Pro libertate nostra

I’ve always been against censorship. When I was young I remember I reacted strongly against the Swedish school I attended for censoring the “sex”- scenes in Braveheart only because we had some hardcore religious people in our class. Not that I necessarily WANTED to see Mel Gibson do that girl in some enchanted Gaelic forest but I thought it was wrong that they would wind the tape only to appease the minority.
I actually didn’t think Swedish newspapers would go as low. Maybe I was too naive? In any ways it seems that I was wrong! The free Stockholmian newspaper City is under fire right now due to serious maltreatment of one of its co-workers. Sakine Madon has been a huge fan of mine for long for a number of reasons; she’s a talanted writer, an impudent and cocky liberal and she’s not a bumlicker. There are way too many young people out there in the youth organizations (doesn’t really matter what party they endorse) who are just in it for the carrier and change their opinions in order to suit that purpose. But not Sakine who left the Swedish Liberal People’s Party due to a conflict over Turkish nationalism. Those people (and they are rare) are definitely a cause of rejoicing. However, the editor of City, Mikael Nestius, does not seem to approve. After some complainment to Nestius about an article written by Madon, Nestius wrote an article of his own in reply - crawled to the cross and begged for forgiveness, signed with Sakine Madon’s name, and published it! In that order!

Seriously folks, who needs a state censor when the press bites its own tongue so effectively? The most insidious enemy is the cowardly journalist and/or editor who doesn’t need to be told what to do, because he or she has already internalized the need to please — or at least not to offend — the worst tyranny or dictatorship.
It is safe to say that censorship is one of the worst things that can be done in society, but combating it is such a daunting task because there are those who (still) agree with its policies.

Read the story directly at Sakine’s own blog (N/B in Swedish).

Happy news folks! The terrorist leader Marulanda might be dead. A national news magazine had earlier reported the death of Manuel “Sureshot” Marulanda on 26 March, citing the defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos. Santos said reports from guerrillas suggested Mr Marulanda died of a heart attack, although he also told the Semana news magazine that three bombing raids had targeted the rebel chief on the date in question.
If this is so it is a big blow to the Farc if confirmed. For the common Colombian on the street it’s of course a great relief.

In other news. Left-wing people are hypocrites! It comes probably not as a shock for anyone but it is always fun to show evidence of their ignorance.
Israel are murdering Palestinians and are the Devil’s pawn but Tibetans are ‘threatening and overshadowing’ the rest of the world with their protests. Hypocritical? You bet! This is the newest statement of the Swedish communist Jan Myrdal. Oh those nasty, spiteful Tibetans. How dare they ‘threaten to overshadow’ the ceremony. Can’t someone please shut them up and push them back into their corner?

If you all wondering where I am I’m in my study cramming my ass off. That is the reason why I won’t be able to put up so much here for the coming week(s). I hope I will get some free time off. I’m back in Sweden now and that is nice (although I’m pretty disappointed in the lousy sc. “summer” weather). I get back to this blog in a week or so when everything calmed down a little.

Peace be upon you (Asalam aleykum)!

Now ya’ll got a shock, right? =) Yep, that’s right. I’m against whaling in Iceland. Why? Well, it is not because I’m a hippie nor due to I’m a tree hugger. The reason is simple. My analysis is simple; once the economic benefits of hotels, restaurants and other tourist amenities are considered, hunting whales is a net economic loss. This argument is particularly contentious in Iceland, as it has among the most-developed whale-watching operations in the world.

But the most important reason is that the whale-watching business is completely on its own, meanwhile whaling is in need of a considerable amount of state subsidies and subventions otherwise it wouldn’t be able to exist. Furthermore, the meat produced from last year’s hunting season has shown astoundingly hard to get rid off. My friend was buying whale meat on the market in Reykjavik and it was ridiculously cheap. Apparently, they have even been forced to throw away meat that’s rotten.

The reason why whaling still exist in Iceland is only due to that Icelandic fishermen have a huge impact on the Icelandic economy, and as in the case with the notorious farmers in France and the rest of the EU, they know SO well that they can cause so much trouble for the politicians if they won’t give them the state subsidies they want. They are aware of their power and the politicians are, as always, only interested in getting re-elected.

That Icelandic politician, of any political alignment, who dares to fuck with the fishery industry, does not yet exist …

The terrorist Nelly Avila Moreno, member of the Farc guerrilla in Colombia has surrendered and is now captured. She is well known for being one of the most violent communists in the region and it is of course a wonderful news that she is finally captured. She has caused so many people so much pain and she has shun no means in her fight for her bloody agenda. Farc is well-known for taking hostages and killing innocent people that do not agree with communism. Among their victims is the green politician + mother of 2, Ingrid Betancurt. Nelly, aka Karina, ought to be shot by a firing squad in order to state an example for the other terrorists in the Colombian jungle to show them what will come. Left-wings in Sweden often glorify Farc, but this is a WRONG thing to do. They are not freedom fighters, they are brutal terrorists. Anyone who says anything different is delusional and has no grasp on the Colombian reality.

Say no to terrorism! Hunt down the Farc like the dogs they are!

Today I left Iceland for my old motherland - Sweden. This green, luminous, and beautiful country - torn apart like a sinking ship due to socialism, welfareism, 1968ism - and all of this in combination with a steady stream of refugees all wanting their equal share of the cake.  You  can all take a wild guess on for how long that will last.

Today I was crossing the border. More people ought to be allowed to do that. Freedom of movement, mobility rights or the right to travel is a human rights concept which should be accounted as a natural right for all human beings. Everyone should have the right to choose where to live in the world and where to seek for his or her own happiness - without interference from the state! BUT, and this is what Sweden does wrong, no one has an obligation to feed another man, nor can he force another man to feed him. Everyone should have the right to move wherever he or she wants but it is always only up to the same person to fulfill his/her own dream - no other can do it for them.

I had some arguments with the staff at the airport today, both in Sweden and in Iceland. Why does it have to be such a fuzz to travel? *sigh*

Nature is harsh sometimes. Yesterday, me and a German friend of mine where walking to the University to get a hand-out of our grades at the exchange student office. So anyways, we were walking across this pond when we saw something that looked like a whirlwind in the water. Since it is next to the sidewalk we go there and have a look only to see that there is some sort of gang duck rape going on. Luckily, we saved the poor chick and she could pull herself up to the sidewalk from the pond. Obviously this is pretty common with a group of drakes that will gang-rape a duck, sometimes even resulting in drowning the poor creature.

It’s pretty funny because of all them hippies out there always branding humans as the no. 1 evil species in our world. They have obviously never seen some nasty duck rape going on.

The blogger Poneke, New Zeeland, is writing an interesting post about media endorsements to political parties on his page today. This is indeed a very important topic to discuss. As a free market-nut I do of course support freedom of the press, and I am totally against all sorts of governmental support to all kinds of media (take that Swedish socialist TV I & 2). But it is a serious problem that a lot of papers today more or less openly support political parties, sometimes pretty foggish. Poneke’s argument against this is that in New Zeeland they don’t have the media competition for that. That is fully understandable I think and he’s making a valid point. We have the same situation here in Iceland where monopolies seem to be a national chronic sickness or something.

Again, politicians shouldn’t interfere with what newspapers say or do, but in a such a small state like Iceland wouldn’t be a good idea to sort of minimize the impact of media endorsement to political views and/or parties? Let’s face it, people can’t be politically objective - no one is completely indifferent to any political matter - but the press should try to be as close as possible in a small state like Iceland, especially because the lack of competition.

Punk rock is (was?) an anti-establishment rock music genre and movement that emerged in the mid-1970s and then went through a lot of different sorts of divergences and offshoots. It got really popular in Sweden a lot thanks to the band Ebba Grön and especially the living legend Thåström.
Now when the once so hard-core rebels have grown up to be old men the foundation of the punk rock movement is a long gone concept. But some nostalgic people out there fight to keep it alive. One of them is Torkel “Deep Torkel” Knutsson who has been struggling hard to get old bands to reunite for a 2-day punk rock festival in Stockholm (Berns). That’s really cool and great news to me because I love Swedish punk rock, even though I grew up from believing in left-wing anarchism (those were the days).
A fun notion is that most of these bands are totally unknown for the average man on the street. A lot of that is due to the left-wing rhetoric that was a guide line for the punk movement. Many of these bands were singing in English and that was looked down upon back then by the Swedish music listeners and Industry. If you knew English you were a sell-out!! =) The punks were throwing a spanner in their own works. How ironic isn’t that …

http://www.pastan.nu/konsert/punken-vacks-till-liv-och-skriver-om-sin-historia-1.25758 (n.b. in Swed.)

“And this to mend, alas, no art is able, ’cause nature made it so irreparable.”

by Anne Bradstreet. She was a Christian extremist (Puritarian) but she’s cool anyway.

Just a short stanza about the fact that we have to take care of our nature. There are enchanting things in our world out there. Let us pray that this beauty will also be here tomorrow …

In a pathetic approach to make a go for youths’ right in Europe, the President of LSU (the main student/youth organization in Sweden), Hanna, writes on her blog (in Swedish) (http://lsuordforande.blogspot.com/2008/05/smack-mosquito.html) how awful it is that the police get more possibilities to fight juvenile criminality. Recently, a new kind of a device has hit the market; it is called the “mosquito”. The Mosquito or the Mosquito alarm is an electronic device which emits high-frequency sounds, similar to the buzz of a mosquito. Because the ability to hear high frequencies deteriorates in humans with age the noise is most commonly audible to younger persons (approx. 13-25). I think it is great we get more possibilities to fight of left-wing radicals occupying buildings or young rascals rioting. The device is marketed for use as a safety and security tool for preventing gang loitering which can often lead to graffiti, vandalism, and violence. It is apparently very popular in the UK mostly by shopkeepers and police authorities. It has been a total success and a savior for a lot of private shop entrepreneurs, because it has successfully reduced the number of teenagers steeling in their stores.

Who can be against that? Who can possibly have anything to complain about? I tell you who, “young” pundits like Hanna from LSU apparently and other people who think the year is 1968. They feel sorry for those who do bad and punish those who do good, taking away their protection. This tool can successfully protect a lot of innocent young civilians from other not-so-innocent bastards who are just there to cause trouble.

I’m so tired, I haven’t slept a wink
I’m so tired, my mind is on the blink
I wonder should I get up and fix myself a drink
No,no,no.

//The Beatles

I think I start up an insomnia blog. I just finished my exam week and I am so tired. I just have some problems to relax. I guess those gears in my brain are running full speed right now and I just can’t get them to stop. So what should I do? Count sheep? Watch TV? Drink chamomile tea?

Fill me in with your favorite tricks for getting a good night’s snooze!

I beg you all pardon for low productivity on my page lately but the reason for that is that I’ve been out on the countryside in Iceland exploring the beautiful nature here. Iceland is extremely impressive with its splendid nature with lava landscapes, volcanoes, and glaciers. This weekend we drove on for a look at the historic Surtshellir (above), a lava cave once inhabited by outlaws.

Next stop was Hraunfossar (below) which cascade into the river from beneath a tree-covered lava field. Then we continued to see the historical site of Reykholt, the place where it is believed (!) that Snorri Sturlason (the historian and poet) once lived.

It was truly an exciting trip. I wish I had more time to go out traveling in the Icelandic wilderness and experience more of this divine freedom that nature has present this world with. I guess when you live here you take it too much for granted. It’s all studies and work for most Icelanders here (and for me). But the nature here is an incredible source of inspiration and it is when I’m on the countryside I just feel that irresistibly drawn to write and create. I guess you understand why when you see these images …

Forty years ago, students in neckties and bobby sox threw cobblestones at the police and demanded that France’s sclerotic postwar system change. Today, students worried about losing state benefits are marching through the streets demanding that nothing change at all. Some things actually do change …

But some things we can for certain say do not change - people with too much spare time who have been smoking way too much pot/drinking way too much red wine (whatever floats your boat, I guess) should not read Marx and should certainly NOT try to get into politics. What doesn’t change is that they do it anyway.

This is what May 1st stands for. The working-class people (whoever those people are, most left-wingers of today have never even seen one) work (surprised?). They are more interested in that the company they work for actually will be profitable even tomorrow so they can continue to work their. The real working man do not want to have things for free, therefore it is wrong to steal from him as well. How can it be right to take money from someone who does right and give it to people who do wrong? Those who work ought to be blessed for their work, not punished. They should be blessed with tax reductions and not be victims of governmental robbery. I’d say that tax reductions for the poorest and for those who work the hardest is the most fair and just way to choose here. Surely tax reductions should be of benefit for everyone, but it is the most ethical and most moral thing to do to lift this burden for those the most in need who are struggling. The self-made man, the working man, is a HERO and ought to be treated as such …

No, the ‘68 legacy must be liquidated, just as Sarkozy says. It has imposed intellectual and moral (cultural) relativism on the world and the worst thing is that these people now sit on power positions all over the world, especially on Universities. These people shouldn’t be allowed to have jobs! It is a good thing they retire soon …

BUT this “revolution” brought along some positive changes too of course in the rotten conservative state of France. For instance, thanks to the changes to a more liberal-minded society we now have a man twice-divorced as a President for France. I guess with all bad things comes at least one good thing.

Recently primier-elected Silvio Berlusconi is not starting out well this time in office either. He is continuing the protectionist policy that has been a normal constituent in Italian politics, whether it is left parties or right-wing parties in charge.

The situation is this; the Italian state owns 49.9 % of the airline company Alitalia, a company that resembles a crisis so bad it should be put into bankruptcy if it wouldn’t be for governmental backing. And now it will get even worse with Berlusconi at the helm. B. just said Alitalia would have to keep its role as Italy’s flagship carrier because of its role bringing tourists to Italy - no matter what. He is now obviously planning to let the Italian taxpayers pay for the rest of the company that is not yet a part of the state budget. “This is a threat”, he said. And he couldn’t be more correct …

Even though the dominating political coalition may call themselves the “House of Freedom” doesn’t mean that they are carrying out political decisions that will bring freedom to the country. Its even clearer now that Italy never can be the “Country of Freedom” with Berlusconi in charge.

http://www.svd.se/nyheter/utrikes/artikel_1193793.svd

What is evil? We would almost certainly all of us say that Hitler was evil. And Stalin and Pol Pot. But most of them, although surely being evil beyond borders, executed their evil acts with help of others. Hitler never shot anyone, nor did Mussolini or Stalin. Leaders have a tradition to let others do their dirty work - probably with an exception of Uganda’s Idi Amin who wanted to taste blood himself.

But now - evil has been given a face.

This police handout picture shows Austrian Josef Fritzl. This man is a monster. He has today starting to tell the police in Austria how he imprisoned his daughter in a basement for 24 years (!) and fathered her seven children due to constantly raping her over and over again for decades. Today Josef Fritzl admitted to forcing his daughter Elisabeth into the basement of the family’s home in Amstetten, north-west Austria, on August 24 1984, when she was 18.

Today, the Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard said in an editorial: “The whole country must ask itself just what is really, fundamentally going wrong.” Yea, how about that. Remember that other Austrian girl who got locked up by her dad in the basement. OK, it was “only” for 8 years, but common - we have to ask ourselves, what is seriously wrong with Austria???

I pity the fool … who is attending the communist circus on May 1st. =)

Some time ago when Bill Clinton wasn’t so caught up in his wife’s effort with reaching to the throne in the White House, Clinton was visiting Iceland for discussions about alternative energies. Afterward Clinton, a known fast-food aficionado, was spotted at a popular hot dog stand, Baerjarins Beztu (”town’s best”). It serves the traditional Icelandic hot dog, which includes lamb, beef and pork. It is served with onions and an egg-based relish. However Clinton wanted to have a less dressing at that time. And even today you can go to Iceland and ask for a “Clinton” when you buy hot dogs. Then you will get a hot dog only with sinnep (mustard). Last summer I tried to uncover the mystery of what the sausages really contain, but after an SS meat factory worker told me, “You don’t want to know,” I decided to let it be. I just hope it doesn’t have anything to do with the heart problems Clinton experienced shortly after his visit in 2004.

The funniest thing with it all is that this small hot dog stand recently started to take an active part in the upcoming election in the US. They’ve been putting up commercial posters for this candidate all over the place. You can guess for yourself on what side they are. Let me give you a generous hint - the candidate is not a man.

With its aim of reducing social inequalities and to reduce class differences in Sweden, the Swedish socialists have used their education policy to prevent people from being different. In earlier times, university and college were something that only the happy few could take a part of. Of course this was a erroneous situation due to that people with wealth during these days were more likely to have had inhereted that property or wealth - not earning it themselves. It is natural that noble titles and nice family names are something that we certainly do not need in modern times. You should owe your success to yourself - not your great great great-grandfather who happened to be a Duke or a Baron.
But meanwhile they were blinded by their hate towards the old class system, the Swedish socialists established a system with little or no concern for the individual - just the State/Nation. In Sweden, it doesn’t matter any more if you are studying or not. It is nothing special with it. The communists have achieved what they wanted. Everyone does it - it is just that that it doesn’t lead anywhere for a huge number of the students attending classes like anthropology or feminist theory etc. They get hooked on student loans, they put themselves in debt to the state and are therefore from then on dependent even more on the State. In Sweden, a midwife needs to study 3-4 years and a nurse around 5. Meanwhile Asia is vomiting out civil engineers and physicians in numbers of millions we study in a slow pace till we are 26-27, with debt to the State all above our ears and with little or no working experience (due to the reason that Swedish students don’t need to work, they get money “for free”, i.e. they get paid for studying meanwhile in other countries you have to pay for it).
And everyone should study. Especially people who don’t want to study. Because the State has so decided. This is a tactic the State developed for the politicians in charge to be able to go abroad and show up great numbers in the UN on how many people (percentagewise) are studying in Sweden and how swell and equal our country is. What it doesn’t show is that we have one of the highest unemployment rates in the EU region for College students and young adults. We need of course a mentality shift, we need to understand that not everyone is fit for university studies and we have to encourage people that are gifted in other ways to be prouder of themselves. Today in Sweden a huge number of university students are being unemployed meanwhile it is almost impossible to find a carpenter or other skilled craftsmen.

But who cares anyway? - the politicians get re-elected and receive standing ovations abroad by those rats in the UN corridors of power. Why would they work for a change?

http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article2355636.ab

When the chairman of the Nobel foundation Marcus Storch held his opening speech at the Nobel prize ceremony in December last year, his remarks about the liberty of the press and the freedom of speech was censored on Chinese television. This is of course an outrage! I have a lot of times stated that I rather watch the non-state owned TV 4 channel instead of 1 and 2, but right now I don’t know WHAT to watch???

When the Nobel Foundation learned about this the foundation cancelled the contract with the Swedish television channel TV4, which has had the sole right to broadcast the Nobel prize ceremony and to distribute it to tv-companies all over the world.

- Censorship is against our values. We can not accept that, says Michael Sohlman, Executive Director of the Nobel foundation. He’s damn right. I hope the President for TV 4 will soon suffer from ED and all the VDs from A to Z.

Remember, the worst part about censorship is …………………………………………………. ………