Pobrezinhos

Os brasileiros não prestam de jogar futebol. Brasil - Noruega, 1-1.

Brasil has never, I repeat, never beaten Norway in a football match. Poor souls.

Calm day?

Well, it seems today has seen at least some improvement. No protest against Israel firing back at Hezballah bone heads. Let's see some withdrawal then. Alas, Netanyahu expresses the following:

"...if the Arabs lay down their arms there will be no more war, but if Israel lays down its weapons there would be no more Israel." - Ynet

And he uses the Hitler card Israel itself has critisized on other occasions.

"since Hitler there has not been a leader like the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad." (Ilan Marciano) - Ynet

Outside it rains. It rains so much I believe I have moved into a large aquarium. Needed. Now perhaps those nice chantarelle will come to a forest near me.

A day to forget

Hurrah, an agreement of seize fire has been made. Let's make the most of it and bomb some more!

When confronted with questions of guilty feelings and shame on befalf of their country when watching Lebaneese children and civilian being killed, a lot of Israelis make this answer: The whole strategy of Hizballah is to kill as many civilians as possible. There is no comparison with our professional forces having targeted Hizbollah rocket posts hidden amongst civilians.

I'll make this interjection: While Hizballah does not have rockets possible to steer, Israel SYSTEMATICALLY targets refugees, UN observers, Red Cross journalists AND make some of their most intensive bomb runs during night. Hizbollah stop firing their Katuschas during night. Hizballah does not have laser guidance, ground forces in Israel and extensive intelligence gathering. They fire and forget those rockets, while obviously giving the Israelis grievances on the ground inside Lebanon. Israel systematically targets civilians. Hizballah randomly hits civilians. While blindly lobbing stupid rockets into Israel is a war crime, intentionally hitting refugee camps and convoys must also be. Kofi Annan has never been more clear spoken in his worries of a systematic breach of human rights from the Israeli forces.

There is no comparing numbers that does any fairness to any war. A civilian casualty is still a civilian casualty, no matter if they are muslim, jew, christian, satanist, Lebaneese, Israeli, Russian, Syrian or whatever. War has the ability to make us all behave like animals. It is its nature. War is stupid stupid stupid.

One point to Israel though. Not compared to Hizballah (which should be kicked out of Lebanon by the way), but compared to US warfare. They do put their soldiers on the line early on and are willing to look their enemies in the eye. No no, not the detached politicians of course, but the lives of teenager reservists. USA systematically abuse human rights on a much higher level than Israel will ever manage. As Israel carries on, with the blessing of UN hater Bolton and Condoleeza Ricebowl, there is much to be said about the logic in politics.

Why, oh why, does Israel continue to defend their honour while targeting civilians and not the least, infrastructure not even under the control of their enemy? They have bombed Lebanon 40 years back in time. Reason: two kidnapped soldiers. No no no, this is not good enough. It is not civilised. It is an poor excuse to use fighter jets to bomb the last escape routes of innocent people to hinder a few guerillas.

It upsets me even more than the fact that I start working again tomorrow. THERE you can find an unreasonable comparison, like comparing a small, tiny in fact army with the might of a nuclear power with its superior force. With power comes great responsibility. When you are so much bigger, why bomb gasolin stations, hospitals, bridges, water and power plants indiscriminately? Hizbollah is not weakened by this, quite the contrary. They gain the support of the ones who are bombed by the, by now, common enemy - Israel. Heart shattering is what it is.

Shame on you, murderers! And if you ever call me antisemittic, your words fall on dead ears. Keep your religion and don't mix it with this. Even orthodox jews protest this war. Speaking of history, I understand you have a long tradition of neglecting UN resolutions, including setting of borders, punishing civilians for the acts of suicide bombers and so forth. Carry on, brave and proud.

One word: Qana.
Two words: Human rights.
Three words: Be very ashamed.
Four words: Get out of Palestine!

Israel, you are the new South Afrika. Apartheid is what your game is. Tear down the wall, let the people free.

Imperialists bork bork bork

Looking into a sky filled by soot, cries and the booms of yet another rocket, bullets, grenades and the splatter of blood. This does not make for a well adapted society. Generations will carry forth a mass induced shell shock, dynamite strapped against their waist - because that is how you expect differences to be solved. By weapon, not with useless words hitting dumb ears.

Jostein Gaarder, you know, the dude that wrote Sophies World, have caused quite a storm here in Norway by his poetic, nearly prophetic style, condemning the state of Israel in its current form. Dagbladet, a leading tabloid, printed a satiric drawing of Olhmert as Goeth in Shindlers List, standing with a view to an extermination camp. That made some people a tiny bit mad.

So, what is the point? Only that I find nothing controversial about expressing a view, however upset you might be. Critique of Israel, their current politics, ties to the USA and abhorrent behaviour in a senseless war - does not make antisemitism. As we would critizise any state or organisation, we have every reason to shout words of condemntation at actors willingly, easily and that with no regret target civilians. What likenesses there might be to the nazi period, where jews were targeted and condemned to inhuman torture, death and betrayal of everything holy are easy to see, exactly because it has happened to one of the involved parties in this current crisis.

I think it is shell shock. When six million of your fellow beings walks as ghost in the machine, you are doomed to have a hundred years of solitude. It is not possible to look away from this past and be reminded of what can happen if you do not, or cannot, stand up and oppose those that wish you harm. It is not strange that Israel every since the war has developed a tendency to behave as its worst enemy. Bitterness fades slowly and sometimes sorrow finds anger and focus it towards your neighbour in a form that we that stand outside cannot understand as anything other than apartheid, slaughter of innocence, xenophobia, rage, animal behaviour.

This is not about jews, it is about how a state carry forth. Religion is a backdrop, as is history and the amalgam of culture everything is. Israel is so much more that the religion of jews. You don't have to be jewish to be an Israeli. But it does seem a prerequisite to be an orthodox jew if you have a tendency to occupy Palestinian soil. As it is a prerequisite to be a fundamental muslim if you want to die the death of martyrs. And I who thought that was the priviledge of sexually frustrated catholic monks. Better leave religion out of it. But if you do that, what else is left of the Middle East? Oil? Oranges? Nuclear weapons? (How come they are called wmds in the hands of terrorist states like Iran, while in the hands of Israel they are necessary if never admitted??

Go fuck yourselves, all you who thinks caricature, critique and flaming words are antisemitism. Go fuck yourselves, all you who thinks caricature, critique and flaming words are worth a jihad.

Gråtåke

Som suverene nasjoner har Norge og USA rett til å stake ut sin egen kurs. Nasjoner må velge med stor forsiktighet hvor deres sterkeste bånd skal knytes, fordi spesielle forhold krever seriøse forpliktelser innen energi, ressurser - og noen ganger må man ofre, sier Whitney. - Benson K Whitney, Dagbladet

Wikipedia anbefales for biografi i korte trekk. Han er fra Minnesota. Han er utseksaminert med magna cum laude fra blant annet Vassar, et av Seven Sister universitetene i USA. Seven Sisters er syv universiteter, opprinnelig kun for kvinner, i motsats til Ivy League for menn. Vassar er det mest prestisjetunge av alle de syv, stiftet i 1861. Det har et uvanlig stort bibliotek. Dets grunnlegger døde samme år som Foucault, den amerikanske presidenten James Buchanan, Möebius (forøvrig etterkommer av Luther) og Rothschild, 1868. Velstående og sosialt beskodde har lenge sendt sine sønner til Yale og sine døtre til Vassar. Dette er menneskene som klør hverandre på ryggen og utformer mytiske dollarsedler i sin egen ære. Main Hall på Vassar er tegnet av James Renwick Jr. 1865 var også året da en annen bygning Renwick tegnet, Smithsonian Institute, ble skadet i brann og store verdier gikk tapt.

Det jeg sier kan synes tatt ut av luften, urettmessig, spekulativt fremført og forflatende. Likeså fremstår ambassadørens tale som en tale om tap og lidelse, i motytelse for å ha en storebror som ser en. Vi har så enorme ressurser, sier han, at vi har enorme forpliktelser å ivareta. I økonomiske termer, selvsagt. Det er noe ved formuleringene som virkelig ikke kan oppfattes som annet enn trusler fra noen som vet at de små vet at de vet at vi vet at de naturlig gitt er større enn oss. Det er en ære å bli truet av USA. Vi skal føle ydmykhet overfor den som har støttet oss så mye i det 20. århundre. Men, ikke om jeg ønsker å gi noe til noen som ønsker monopol på forpliktelser.

Enhver kropp har til plikt å være noe utover seg selv. Vil verden i sin helhet og mangfold, være bedre tjent med nok en bananstat under USA? Jeg bare spør. Kan en tvile på logikken i ordene? Aannet enn at de fanger i seg selv og gir ingen åpning for dialog. Monopol på fortolkninger, samtidig som en roser sin neste for å være moden til å lytte på storebror og derfor ukritisk forplikte oss. Det blir litt som å signere på et blankt ark. Forpliktelser basert på skyldfølelse er et litt for drastisk. Ambassadøren må tåle at USA stiller i en rettferdig konkurranse om disse angitte rikdommene.

Norges skyld til USA kan aldri betales i penger og skjulte kontrakter. En skylder sin redningsmann sitt eget liv. Hvis livet skal være å gi som eget, må det ha fri vilje. Kanskje finnes ikke den frie vilje, men det finnes veier å gå som føles godt og det finnes mål som er verdige å ofre mye for. Veien USA viser, tror jeg hverken er god å gå eller fører til noe godt mål. Hvem vet forresten om noe påvirker et endelig utfall eller ikke, eller om samtidige, kronologiske hendelser er verd sin verdi i gull. Ingen andre en den som tror på det. Det gjør hverdagen enklere. Eller er det selve tanken på at det er slik det fungerer som gjør at tyngdekraften beveger oss nedover trappen?

Hvis tyngdekraften nå beveger oss, må vi lære oss å leve med den. Er det å ofre? I forhold til hva? Nei, den er unektelig, som den ideelle frie vilje. Gravitasjonen tar sin del av kaka fordi den er en del av kaka. Rett og slett. En stor del av kaka. Kake er bra, men det er også behov for gulrøtter i kostholdet. En må gjøre noe godt med de mulighetene en har.