Various stuff...
Jan. 16th, 2004 10:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
misscamSo a Norwegian channel has apparently made a Scandinavian version of Joe Millionaire. *rolls eyes* Whee. Only not.
The trial of the killer of Anna Lindh (Sweden's foreign minister at the time) has started. He's admitted to doing it already, but claims he heard 'voices' telling him to do it. Not sure that defense will hold up too well, it all depends on his psychiatric evaluation.
BBC looks at the consequences for Sweden. Norway is very much the same as Sweden - open society, unprotected ministers... It may sound foreign to some of you, but that's how it is in Norwat. When my father worked as a minister, he had no bodyguard. It never even occured to me at the time that he might need one. But if things like these can happen in Sweden, they can happen in Norway - and that has rattled Norway slightly as well.
In other news, it seems that there are children held at Guntanamo Bay. Of course, it shouldn't really be a surprise to me, as the US is one of the few Western countries who have refused to sign the UN's Rights of the Child - this because some states in the US execute people for crimes done when they were minors.
Okay, I know some people will just shrug their shoulders at this and not care because they see these people at Guntanamo Bay as terrorists. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. How can you say if they have not been tried? But that is not even the point. Human rights are easy to defend when it's people you like. The real problem comes when it's people you hate. David Irving, who I detest with every cell in my body, has the same human rights as me, as much as I may seceretly wish it otherwise. If we start thinking human rights is something *deserved*, not something you're born with... Well, then we are on very treacherous ground indeed.
And just as I was muttering dark things about Bush, I found in my inbox a delightful little forwarded e-mail with the topic of 'Let Us Be Thankful We Are Americans'. (I know who it's from, and she does know I'm Norwegian, so why the smeg is she forwarding it to me? She's not really the kind to send stuff just to provoke.) Also contained gold statements like 'I hope you are proud and thankful to live in the greatest country that has ever existed' and 'If you're not, please Email me back and let me know of a greater nation or place on earth you would rather live. I don't think there is even a close second'.
Yeah, and you wonder why the rest of the world is not feeling the US-love right now? Right there is a good place to start. Everyone should be entitled to love and be proud of their country. But you should have the good grace to realise that your neighbouring country is also a good place that people love and are proud of (yes, even Sweden - I kid, of course. Sweden and Norway just like to pick on each other in good fun). I don't think any country in the world can claim to be the greatest nation - it depends on what you will define as great, and that will vary. And not even a close second? Charming. Real charming.
And finally, I managed to almost break my toe when walking up the stairs. I'm such an idiot sometimes.
The trial of the killer of Anna Lindh (Sweden's foreign minister at the time) has started. He's admitted to doing it already, but claims he heard 'voices' telling him to do it. Not sure that defense will hold up too well, it all depends on his psychiatric evaluation.
BBC looks at the consequences for Sweden. Norway is very much the same as Sweden - open society, unprotected ministers... It may sound foreign to some of you, but that's how it is in Norwat. When my father worked as a minister, he had no bodyguard. It never even occured to me at the time that he might need one. But if things like these can happen in Sweden, they can happen in Norway - and that has rattled Norway slightly as well.
In other news, it seems that there are children held at Guntanamo Bay. Of course, it shouldn't really be a surprise to me, as the US is one of the few Western countries who have refused to sign the UN's Rights of the Child - this because some states in the US execute people for crimes done when they were minors.
Okay, I know some people will just shrug their shoulders at this and not care because they see these people at Guntanamo Bay as terrorists. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. How can you say if they have not been tried? But that is not even the point. Human rights are easy to defend when it's people you like. The real problem comes when it's people you hate. David Irving, who I detest with every cell in my body, has the same human rights as me, as much as I may seceretly wish it otherwise. If we start thinking human rights is something *deserved*, not something you're born with... Well, then we are on very treacherous ground indeed.
And just as I was muttering dark things about Bush, I found in my inbox a delightful little forwarded e-mail with the topic of 'Let Us Be Thankful We Are Americans'. (I know who it's from, and she does know I'm Norwegian, so why the smeg is she forwarding it to me? She's not really the kind to send stuff just to provoke.) Also contained gold statements like 'I hope you are proud and thankful to live in the greatest country that has ever existed' and 'If you're not, please Email me back and let me know of a greater nation or place on earth you would rather live. I don't think there is even a close second'.
Yeah, and you wonder why the rest of the world is not feeling the US-love right now? Right there is a good place to start. Everyone should be entitled to love and be proud of their country. But you should have the good grace to realise that your neighbouring country is also a good place that people love and are proud of (yes, even Sweden - I kid, of course. Sweden and Norway just like to pick on each other in good fun). I don't think any country in the world can claim to be the greatest nation - it depends on what you will define as great, and that will vary. And not even a close second? Charming. Real charming.
And finally, I managed to almost break my toe when walking up the stairs. I'm such an idiot sometimes.
