Interview in English with the Sweden Democrats

I obviously haven’t been very creative when it comes to writing on my blog for a couple of days now so I’m just throwing up a video for you guys to watch. Those of you who only understand English will probably be happy because it is an American radio interview with one of the Sweden Democrats’ MPs, Kent Ekeroth, expressing his views on immigration and Swedish culture and another British contribution. Enjoy!

Posted in America, Scandinavia | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

My views on Islam

In our multicultural age, many liberals are reluctant to criticize the subjugation of women in Muslim countries and Muslim immigrant communities, fearful of promoting the notion of Western superiority. This is the essence of cultural relativism and it is pure evil. Even in academic feminist groups criticisms of the patriarchal oppression of women in Muslim countries are often met with hostility unless accompanied by disclaimers that Swedish women too are oppressed.
Being a classical liberal, it is natural for me to accept all sorts of ways of living your life in a society. This goes as well for being Muslim. It does not however have to mean I like it. I am a strong critic towards Islam and Christianity. But I want them to co-exist in and with our society. As long they respect a free and open society, we should respect them and their ways. But of course they have to adjust to laws and order built on our basic human rights. If they cannot accept this, they have no place in our society and ought to leave if they constituate a threat to our civilization.

Furthermore, Islam is a different religion on the matter it mixes religion and politics in a way other religions tend not to do in the same way. Islamic law is above “human” law. The result is called theocratic-fascism, in political science. The final destination is a Khalifah, with a ruler appointed by a minestry of priests. This means that Islam is incredibly dangerous. Especially because Islam (as Christianity, but not in the same way) is a missionary religion and want to spread all over the world.

I have been having relationships with girls from Muslim families (Kurdish, Arab, or Persian background). And it has more or less always been the same problem. I am not blaming Islam entirely for these problems I’ve encountered since it is more linked towards cultural traditions than to Islam, but Islam is not exactly making it easier or condemning such behavior. I have been having an affair with a Christian girl with roots from Lebanon as well and she did not have this problem. If Islam does condemn and prohibit suchlike behavior I would like to get a list of references on that, please.

And yes, it is my firm belief that – after what I’ve seen, experienced, and learned and according to Islam in practice in the world today (where Islam is not a minority religion but the main one) – Islam is pulling society backwards. Muslims ought to stop bragging about Islam’s Golden Age. It is OK to be proud about it but it died out and ended with an even longer period of backwardness and poverty for the Muslims. They should concentrate on fixing that instead! And to do that, an update is needed, but that has Islam shown itself unwilling to do when it comes to go through and change your inheritance laws and property laws written down by Islamic scholars 1500 years ago. Islamic civilization collapsed after exhausting its resources in internal fighting. The Mongols expanded and smashed the Islamic culture to bits and pieces. And the Plague kept returning to the Islamic world up to the 19th century!! And freedom of thought, investments in philosophy, astrology, finances, and science turned a totally different direction around the middle of the previous millenium!! Illiteracy swept over the devastated lands and life expectancy dropped. But it is not only due to outer factors the Islamic civilization ceased to be civilized, but it lagged behind that of the West because of it became stagnant in itself! It didn’t update, and meanwhile Europe grew stronger after around 800 years in a coma and developed more modern laws of ownership and trade, they still had serious limitations of Islamic partnership law and inheritance law. This restricted the growth of Middle Eastern enterprises, and prevented the development of corporate forms. This shows quite well that civilizations and countries who adapt liberal economic policies thrive and flourish, to the exact opposite to those who don’t.

Let me make it clear; using the language of tolerance to justify oppressive practices is a grotesque perversion of liberalism. But no amount of rhetorical sleight of hand can disguise the fact that the veil makes women, literally, more or less faceless. Especially the full-face burqa or the niqab. Some Muslim women in the West may choose this way of life but their explanations often reveal an internalized misogynistic view of women as creatures whose very existence is a sexual provocation to men. What’s more, their choice helps legitimize a custom that is imposed on millions of women around the world who have no choice.

Posted in The Middle East | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Vergesst Es Nie – In commemoration of the Kristalnacht and the Holocaust!

Tonight we commemorate the Kristalnacht, which took place 1938 on this date. It started off because of a German diplomat got shot by a Jew in Paris and Hitler called for retribution – and then the German Jews had to pay the price. Jewish homes were ransacked, temples smashed, and people got killed. And their only crime was their cultural and racial belonging.

This was the beginning of the Final Solution and the Holocaust. Sadly, this was neither the first or the last racial pogrom in our history. In former Yugoslavia, Soviet Union, Africa, in Israel-Palestine there have been genocides and hatred campaigned against folk groups. It seems that it is a tragic thing we humans tend to do where ever we live.

Posted in Europe | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A week with the Nordic Council

This week has been both hectic and fun. A lot of my friends from the Nordic countries came here for a visit. We went out to the bars almost every night and had interesting debates and discussions all the time. They came here because of the Nordic Council (and the Youth organization as well) session. It always takes place on week nr 44 each year. It is an intergovernmental forum for co-operation between the Nordic countries. So we were literally swimming in politicians on our little island this week.
It is working among other things for a common labor market and free movement across borders within the region. It is a noble cause which too many of us sadly take too much for granted.

I also had an article published about the issue on Newsmill. It is in Swedish though.

http://www.newsmill.se/artikel/2010/11/06/varf-r-denna-tystnad-i-svensk-media-om-nordiskt-samarbete

@bloggitik-537748c6

Posted in Scandinavia | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

No, You Couldn’t!

American voters’ message to Obama: No, You Couldn’t!

The midterm election (for the Senate and the House of Reps.) has been a disappointment for Obama and the voters have sent their criticism to show to the White House. However, we are in the end of the midst of a financial crisis (the recovery period) and it is almost a law of nature that the sitting administration face a lack of trust from the voters during a recession. But it is not only that. It is also the way Obama enforced the reformations within the American health care sector and that these transformations of the American society, whatever we might think of it and brand it as, have not been deeply rooted and established among the grassroots in America. It is highly likely that the average voter do not care much for a socialist track within the health care sector and that it goes against what America stands for: liberty and personal responsibility. To find a way to make the American health care sector LESS costly (the % they pay for it of the GDP is on an insane high) for the American tax payers but in a way which allows the change to be applicable within also the ramifications of the American tradition and its founding ideas is a must for the future.

And I don’t care much for the Tea Party, either. They are a hostile bunch and I dislike people who brand Obama as a communist or a new Hitler. It’s on a intellectual low-water mark equal to the Mariana Trench. But it is such a diverse group and there are some bright stars within it. I have to of course send out my greetings to Rand Paul, son of Doctor Ron Paul. God speed and hopefully you will over-shine Sarah Palin.

Posted in America | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

One type of Libertarian stand regarding abortions

Abortion is probably one of the worst topics to discuss in politics. Mostly because it is so emotional people get extremely hot-tempered about the issue. It is also a hard topic for liberals (libertarians) to take a stand in. Whatever position you take, you have to infringe the freedom and human rights for a person – the unborn child or the woman. And either way is not a suitable solution, but I have come to the conclusion that born citizens must have greater right to their life and liberty than unborn ditto. That is why I am pro- choice! But it is NOT a clear case, and it is not easy at all, but these are my thoughts regarding abortions from an agnostic Libertarian point of view …

I was being wished for. I thank my parents for that. But many have to give births to children they cannot afford to keep or simply do not want, because of religious extremists who want to run other people’s lives. In this case innocent women’s lives. And I will always fight that. And no Government or Church/Mosque has no right to tell a wo/man what s/he ought to do with his/her body.

Christianity and Conservatives worldwide are the direct cause of over 100 000 women’s tragic death due to banning of abortion rights. We must remember that it is not between legal abortions and no abortions at all, but between legal safe abortions and illegal and unsafe abortions. Christianity and all those in favor of these hideous atrocities are a(n) (in)direct cause of every mutilated vaginas and wombs there is in this world.

A fetus is a fetus and human beings who have been born have more right to their life than things who have not, especially when infringing the freedom of life and freedom of the woman who carries the child.

Posted in Scandinavia | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Malin Jonason, the Swedish Humanist organization, & this despicable cultural relativism

Malin Jonason is a Swedish humanist, working as a junior level teacher in Sweden. She is a former member of the Swedish organization “Humanisterna”, a non-politically attached interest group for people who are humanists. She resign herself from the organization because it’s (according to her) “tendency to mock and ridicule religious people”. And she does this with writing a pretty harsh column in Svd (Swedish) stating that the organization has a culture which is incompatible with classical humanist views.

I strongly agree with her. It is incredibly immoral to mock and ridicule someone (anyone, really) for their political or theological believes. It ought to, of course, be legal, but one cannot help but questioning the intelligence and motives of a person whose only way of debating is to annoy and to irritate his or her opponent. Read carefully now: you must have some deeper thought or idea with what you are arguing for then you have more space to discuss within – to mock someone just because it is fun just means you’re a retarded bully. Get some ideas of your own and tell them aloud letting people know why the others are wrong. Then you ridicule them much better than if you just ridicule them.

I also agree that this is probably also inconsistent with calling oneself a humanist. I don’t know. I have never really seen myself as a humanist or thought of it as anything important for me to define myself as. I like liberalism and freedom and all other concepts which is attached to that and that is enough for me.

My problem with her and many others like her is however her despicable cultural relativism. And sadly, since all of her criticism regarding the Swedish Humanist organization is built on it I cannot give her anything but being wrong in all her accusations. Her problem is that she defines cultures as islands floating around independently from economic rules, development, progress, and human values. She sees development as something relative and that all cultures have their experiences and memories and if they choose to have a society where bestiality and standardized rape ceremonies within the family are custom it is ok. It is culture. It is there ways. She think it is WRONG of the Swedish Humanist organization to give criticism to Muslims who advocate a society which contains this AT BEST and defend it with that it is their traditions and this custom are assent by a book given to an illiterate Arabic businessman by someone with wings attached to his back??! Or that the president of the Swedish Humanist organization gave harsh criticism to our Minister of Education who wanted Christianity to have a special role in our Swedish schools. And said that he was wrong (according to Jonason, a cultural relativist, it is wrong to say that someone is wrong). Sometimes a lot of people are wrong, Malin! It doesn’t mean they have to be bad people, it just mean they are wrong. And it is nothing wrong with being wrong at times. Seriously, Sweden is NOT a Christian country. I am not Christian and I strongly dislike that school traditions are taking place in churches. The only ones getting away from those are children who are (or children who are brainwashed and forced by their religious parents) religious but within a different religion. And I think it is terribly wrong. But the discussion I want to have here is not about that, it is about the cultural relativists who state that you CAN say that 1+1=3 and it is equally beautiful and “right” as if you would have given the correct answer!! Wrong is wrong always and having a society where beating up your wife is being sanctioned by highest level of law ARE wrong and always will be wrong. It is a lie that all cultures are equally right and as much worth. Development and progress must happen everywhere with the adjustment to objective human rights (which are all based on the basic human right – the right to your own life) and if a society does not develop it will slowly (in different paces) die out. Either it will get exterminated by other highly advanced cultures but of which are warlike and martial. Or they will get sucked into other cultures, freely and willingly, because people are better off there and their “old ways” where inferior when it came to human value and the value for the individual’s own life. Or they will just slowly die out because they are not able to adjust themselves to modern times.

A civilization must develop otherwise it comes within a stalemate and dies out. The less liberal (both in an economical and societal sense of the word) a civilization is the more inferior it is. A society which hangs beautiful women because they have dared to have sex before marriage is NEVER – in any world – a “right” society, the same way as 1+1 NEVER can be 3! And as long as these culture relativists back up their arguments with saying that it can, they can never ever be right, in anything!

Another culture relativist at work

Posted in Scandinavia | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Some truths, and others

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is having a tough time. He is accused of raping two women in Sweden. Furthermore other people within the organization have quit because of his person takes too much focus away from the real issues WikiLeaks are dealing with. I don’t know if this is true or anything, but it is weird the way he reacts when these things are brought up.
In Sweden it is extremely easy to lay charges on a person for sexual harassment if you compare with the situation in other countries. I am not saying he is innocent though and I think it is sad that he shuns answering criticism in such a childish way. In this interview he just stands up and walks away when the issue comes up.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/10/22/intv.shubert.assange.end.cnn

Posted in America, Europe, Scandinavia | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Language learning?

A theoretical know-how of a language is nothing worth if it cannot be used and performed practically.

This is my theory. Of course it has to be clarified the REASON for WHY a person learns a language, but as long as the person only learns the language in order to being able to communicate and interact with other people with a different mother tongue than his own this must be considered to be true. Not? I mean a Finnish student in Swedish may very well know how to conjugate irregular Swedish verbs and may very well received the highest grade at remembering glossaries, but his/her knowledge is worthless as long as it cannot be applicable for communication with native speakers.

Posted in Africa, America, Asia, Europe, Oceanica, Scandinavia, The Middle East | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Aint it fun, Blogkings & queens?

People who blog about nothing more important than their last party or what shirt they are wearing at the moment are a waste of oxygen! This is probably the first and last add I devote to the sc. gossip bloggers, but I just felt I had to write something about this. After devoting precious 30 minutes of my life reading about some online drama between some low-lives who think they are famous I just wanted to get this out of my chest. It is not about them particularly. Retards will always be a part of our world. But it is more of a sad reflection on a particular part of our contemporary culture, a part of which I despise with all my heart!

Really young people putting up their private lives online for everyone to see just to get their 15 pathetic minutes of fame are roaming the nets in Sweden. For a reason which is unclear to me it seems that a lot of people are reading it too. It really bugs me, the same way that gossip about Lady Gaga that gets more attention than debates about racism or monetary policies. Or the same way that people watch sitcoms rather than news programs. Or talk about Idol participants rather than philosophy. It makes me a little bit sad for the sake of humanity and it makes me wonder where we are heading. Really!

I just don’t understand how anyone would like to read those things. Or even less how anyone with the right mind would come up with the idea of writing about his own STDs or what clothes he or she bought.

Don’t get me wrong here. I have nothing against fashion blogs – IF they are well made and SERIOUS! The Sartorialist (http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com) is a good example on a creative and serious fashion blog. Mostly everything else is just bs and deals less with fashion and more like a personal diary.

I’m gonna go a little bit sexist here. It is even worse when guys do it! I can understand it when teenage girls 15-20 want to blog about their life and communicate with other young girls through that medium. It feels natural. But when a guy in his mid 20s does that? And has nothing deeper to say to the world than what alcohol he is going to drink tonight or talking about his last visit at the gym. Oh! my! Fuckin’! God! (if I would believe in one) you are pathetic! Go and read a book. Educate yourself! No need for name calling. The ones who read this and feel guilty probably should!

It’s good you spend all that money though. Get’s our economy rolling!
As GNR said (and Dead Boys before them):

Ain’t it fun when you’re always on the run
Ain’t it fun when your friends despise what you’ve become
Ain’t it fun when you get so high
Well…that you just can’t come
Ain’t it fun when you know that you’re gonna die young

Ain’t it fun when you tell her she’s just a cunt
Ain’t it fun when you she splits you and leaves you on the run
Well, Ain’t it fun when you broken up every band that you ever begun
Ain’t it fun when you know that you’re gonna die young

It’s such fun …



Posted in America, Scandinavia | Leave a comment

In Iceland (and some thoughts regarding the Nordic speech community)

OK, I am in Iceland and the past week has been pretty hectic. The flight went OK and also my short stay in Copenhagen, where I took part in the board for language understanding within the Nordic Council of Ministers of which I have the honor to have been appointed into. The Nordic language community is a hard-to-handle subject of which this post will be devoted to.

The basic idea is that we in the North are living in a speech community which we share with several other countries – we have different languages but due to linguistic, political, and historical reasons they are mutually understandable for us. But it is a complex issue, to say the least – it is the idea of that the people of the northernmost region in Europe who live in – or in countries formerly belonging to – the Scandinavian countries mutually understand one another even though they have different mother tongues. It doesn’t come easy. There is also a need of explaining the division about what is considered Scandinavia, the North, and what is not considered as not being any of the above. It can be a complicated and rather confusing discussion to say the least – even for people living in the area. Scandinavia is the three countries of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The term “the North” refers to Denmark, Norway and Sweden as well as Finland and Iceland, and the associated territories. Neither term does include areas such as Canada, Russia, and/or the Baltic countries (even if it is disputable, according to myself, regarding Estonia). This is so due to linguistic, territorial, political, and cultural reasons that go back as much as a thousand years back in history.

The biggest problem for the Nordic speech community is its peripheries, Finland and Iceland. This is so due to that the language in Finland – Finnish – belongs to a complete different group of languages which cannot even be considered to be of European origin. And Icelandic has stayed intact in its development whereas the other North-Germanic languages (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian) drifted away from their roots so the language is not mutually intelligible with the others anymore. This constitutes problems of course for the idea of the Nordic speech community. Therefore, in order to prevent the community to break down and collapse it is necessary that the inhabitants in Finland and Iceland know a second language – the language of any of the Scandinavian languages. Another option would be giving in to what some would say be a natural development and use a sc. bridge language – a lingua franca. Even this option comes with two alternatives: 1) use a mixture of the three Scandinavian languages, a variant called Scandinavian (swe:skandinaviska), or 2) English which is the leading language of international discourse, and has acquired use as lingua franca in many other regions.

To give up the struggle in keeping the Nordic speech community intact and start to use English instead seem to be the most convenient option. But many people fear that it will be the beginning of the end for Nordic co-operation all together. There is no need in denying that the fellowship of language is one of the things that binds Nordic co-operation together. And the situation is such as a bit over 80 per cent of Nordic residents have Danish, Norwegian or Swedish as the language they control the best. About 20 per cent speak Finnish and Icelandic, and, in addition, a great number of minority languages are spoken. To be able to keep the community together in one piece, the minority seemingly have to adjust to the majority. Therefore, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are the working languages in official Nordic co-operation (Nordic Council of Ministers homepage). If English would to be used an important administrative domain within the Nordic co-operation would be lost and something that rests on a thousand years of history as its backbone would shatter to pieces. One of the advantages also for the Nordic co-operation is that the North is a sc. natural co-operation platform with a common history, common culture, and more or less common communication system. This is of course an advantage that the European or African co-operation models do not share in the same way and it ought to be something that should be worthwhile maintaining. But this has also to come with a greater understanding and respect for smaller languages that thrives within the Nordic region.

However, maintaining the Nordic speech community requires constant development of the possibilities for strengthening language comprehension. Here the school systems are important tools in order to guide the way – whatever way might to be desired.

(and this is what I study – CIE – Comparative & International Education)

Posted in Scandinavia | 4 Comments

The Nobel Prize in Economy might be hard to handle, for some …

Dear Left-Wing people who is reading this blog: I understand that Diamond, Mortensen and Pissaride’s research results which are now to be awarded with a Nobel Prize are hard to take in for you. It is now proven scientifically that the more generous the unemployment benefit fund is in a society the more people tend to be unemployed! ;)

It is always hard to admit one has been wrong all along.

Posted in Scandinavia | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Our world has never been richer!

It is true! Our world has never been better, healthier, and richer than it is today. This is all thanks to our growing number of democracies and spreading of capitalism! Global wealth is expected to increase 61% by 2015 and the global wealth currently held by 4.4 billion adults has increased 72% since 2000! This is a lot to thank the rapid economic development in China. China stands out as the third-largest wealth generator in the world, behind only the US and Japan, and is 35% ahead of the wealthiest European country, France.

This is something we in Europe have to work with to better be able in the future to compete on the international arena. We have to open our borders, liberalize our markets, lowering the impact of our unions, lowering our income taxes and tighten our welfare states making them more flexible and liberal – we have to encourage education, education that leads somewhere and benefit the society and our companies, not education as a collection point for the mere sake of it! We have to encourage inventions, entrepreneurship, and for individuals to create! Our new freer and richer world creates both wonderful gifts and a lot of new tough tasks and problems to solve. But they ARE solvable, I must add – if we have the courage to move forward, not backwards dreaming on about how it used to be!

The middle class in the world is growing immensely and this is of course wonderful news. More people in the world are now able to enjoy their desires and not only live to satisfy their needs!! It is a tragedy that the global Left is so blinded by their 19th century ideology and so stuck in the old world that they are unable to acknowledge this and cherish it.

https://www.credit-suisse.com/news/en/media_release.jsp?ns=41610

Posted in Africa, America, Asia, Europe, Oceanica, Scandinavia, The Middle East | Tagged | Leave a comment

Geeking out ’bout a geek movie

If you truly are a real geek, you notice (and care about) these goofs in the new upcoming Facebook movie – The Social Network. It hasn’t come to Sweden yet, but I think I will watch it in Reykjavik by the end of this week. Would be fun.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/goofs

Posted in America | Tagged , | Leave a comment

P-Floyd! <3

Went on a concert yesterday with the Swedish Pink Floyd cover band P-Floyd. It was magical!

Posted in Scandinavia | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Ist es Samstag?

JAAAA, das stimmt! Alright, I’m not continuing bragging about my skills in German but I just had to write a lazy add. Today is the last weekend for me in Sweden for awhile. After this I’m off to Denmark and then Iceland. Tonight I’ll first be going to attend a concert with a Pink Floyd cover band together with my cousin and then we’re off to a party in Västerås.

Not much new to report a part from that though. One interesting thing though is that there have been rumors that Facebook and Skype have reportedly launched their own talks for a partnership. I don’t know what that would lead to but it sure would be interesting if you could in the future call your contacts on Facebook in the same cheap manner you do on Skype today. Probably it would be a loss for Skype in the long run, however.

Posted in Scandinavia | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Free Xiaobo!!

The global left is pissed off. China is pissed off. The Vatican is pissed off. I’m ever so proud of the Nobel Prize Committee. :P

Democracy activist and dissident Liu Xiaobo received the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Or received and received, he’s incapable of receiving it since is is a sc. prisoner of conscience in China. He is not, however, the only prisoner of conscience in China and all of them should be released as soon as possible!

What is important with this award-winner is his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights. Sadly, Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison and two years’ deprivation of political rights last year. Only two other laureates have won while in prison, one of them Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi in 1991. I think it sends out very clear signals to oppressors all over the world that it is not OK to hinder people from talking and saying their opinion and advocate human rights and basic freedoms.

The best thing about this all is that the Nobel Peace Prize might have recovered a little at least from the errors which been made by awarding Barack Obama (commander of the biggest army in the world) and Al “ManBearPig” Gore etc. Sadly these earlier awards give the Chinese government an easier situation when discussing the Xiaobo- case back at home. Many people who likewise feel sorry for Xiaobo and do think his imprisonment is way over the line will also sympathize with the Chinese Government when they claim that this is just another attack by an American propaganda machine. Hopefully other well-deserved nominees will be awarded further on in the future. Next year I hope for someone from Africa!
This has, in short, been a great Nobel week for humanity. :)

Posted in Asia | 2 Comments

A liberal Nobel Prize!

Finally! There have been many disappointments regarding the Nobel Prize throughout the years. I think of course of Harold Pinter, left-wing activist and supporter of Yugoslavian dictator Tito, Al “ManBearPig” Gore, and the Social Democrat Günter Grass (former Nazi soldier).

This time the award goes to someone who is a liberal in the classical definition and supporter of legalization of drugs. He formed the Movimiento Libertad in Peru in the late 80s opposing the nationalization of the banking sector. The years before that the Socialist President Alan García had thrown Peru into terrible economic chaos with a raging inflation on about 7000%.  He also worked together with libertarian scholar Hernando de Soto, who is personal favorite of mine. (see my selfbio-page).

Biggest question right now is, will Norway make the world disappointed once again by soiling the reputation of the Nobel Peace Prize by electing someone who is just all talk? I still can’t forgive that Nobel Peace Prize committee that they awarded Al Gore and Obama, instead of, let’s say, Morgan Tsvangirai and Íngrid Betancourt???

Perhaps we would all be better off if all the Nobel institutions would be based in Sweden instead of shared with our little-brother colony in the west?

Posted in America | Leave a comment

Tutu is retiring

South African priest and human rights activist Desmond Tutu is finally retired.

In the end the perpetrators of injustice or oppression, the ones who strut the stage of the world often seemingly unbeatable – there is no doubt at all that they will bit the dust.” (followed by roaring chuckle) “Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful! The texture of our universe is one where there is no question at all but that good and laughter and justice will prevail.

A world without Tutu will be a bit darker, a little more dull. His legacy will be his life and the story of how this tiny pastor with a huge laugh from South Africa became our global guardian – much more than any American army could induce. Thank you Tutu for all these years and for what you did!

Posted in Africa | Leave a comment

Banned Books Week

Last week was the Banned Books Week! I think it is a wonderful initiative that I support to the fullest, of course. The practice of banning books is a form of censorship, and often has political, religious or moral motivations. If government officials step in and ban or challenge literature that does not suit their likes, it is a certain sign on that something is not right with this society. However it is not only in the most obvious countries these things occur. In the States for instance, this week is very important because of the redneck Christian groups there supporting book burnings of the Quraan and of other books that are wrong according to them.

Chick with Books has been highlighting one book a day during that week – books that were banned or challenged in the US. She deserves a lot of cred for that!

According to her, the Christians at a 7,600-student school system in rural Virginia want to ban Anne Frank‘s remarkable diary. Why, you may ask? I asked the same question. Until it came out that Anne Frank wrote too much on sexual material and homosexual themes. Deary, deary me. Therefore, it seems that Culpeper County, Va. public school is not going to read Anne Frank at this level anymore but it will perhaps be brought up again as material at a different grade level.

Remember;
Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen
//Heinrich Heine

Posted in America | Leave a comment