An Intelligent US President

Former US president Jimmy Carter shares his views on Israel's position on Palestine and nuclear weapons. I have to say that I think he seems like quite an alright bloke. As far as I can remember (and I can unfortunately mainly only remember the current President Bush) the US presidents have usually been of the species idiot. I can't really say I like Bill Clinton either, even though I can hardly remember any of his policies. Following his wife's campaign to become a presidential candidate I have, however, concluded that he belongs to the same species as Bush.
Were people wiser in the old days? I doubt it. The US history has suffered quite a few incompetent presidents, I mean, even the famous Lincoln himself had his weird policies.
Having spent 8,5 hours in the library today revising Khrushchev, Stalin, Lenin, Trotsky and Bukharin it makes my day a little brighter to see a political leader who isn't totally stupid. To be fair, I don't even know if I would count Carter as stupid at all since I don't know what he did during his term of office.
Anyway, thank you Jimmy Carter for making my day a bit brighter and making me not lose all hope in political leaders. Really, thank you!

The Violence in South Africa

This day started out as a really good day. My mom helped me get rid of my stress last night and I woke up and felt good, really good in fact. Then I started to read the newspapers.
BBC reports that people fleeing from Zimbabwe into the country are being attacked. So far, BBC states, at least 13 people have been killed. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish) reports that 22 people have been killed. Why!? Why do people have to do this to each other? Why can't we just help? After all, it does not come down to nationality, race, religion or anything else. We are all humans. You, me, the sweaty guy next to you in the queue, the dodgy-looking guy on the subway, even the little baby screaming so loud when you're hungover. They are all human, so why can we just not try to coexist in peace? I mean, for all that you know, that guy could be your relative.
Now I need more coffee to start this day.

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

While I'm doing poetry I'm going to take this opportunity to write down my favourite poem. It is absolutely beautiful. I love the supernatural element in it, and I think it says a lot about love. It's a story about a knight who meets an elf (La Belle Dame Sans Merci, which means "the beautiful lady without mercy"). I'm not sure if I have written it here before or not, but here it is anyway:

La Belle Dame Sans Merci (John Keats, 1884)

O WHAT can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.
II. O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms!
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.
III. I see a lily on thy brow
With anguish moist and fever dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.
IV. I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful—a faery’s child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.
V. I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She look’d at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan.
VI. I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery’s song.
VII. She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna dew,
And sure in language strange she said—
“I love thee true.”
VIII. She took me to her elfin grot,
And there she wept, and sigh’d fill sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.
IX. And there she lulled me asleep,
And there I dream’d—Ah! woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dream’d
On the cold hill’s side.
X. I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—“La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!”
XI. I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.
XII. And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.

Speaking of Human Rights

This made me really happy. Let's hope the Church and the rest of the states catch on and realises that same-sex marriage isn't a sin. It is love in as pure a form as between a man and a woman. Something has to be really wrong when people are trying to stop love in today's world.

Blogging for Human Rights

Amnesty International is asking everyone to blog for human rights today to draw attention to the problems in the world when it comes to this issue.
For me, human rights, like equality, is something that people just should have. All the human beings, no exceptions. It is not a discussion matter, it is something that is evident.
Unfortunately there are idiots around the world that do not agree with me. To take a recent example: the government in Myanmar who refuse to let help into the country after the devastating cyclone that ruined a country where a lot of people already live under the poverty level. What really baffles me is why do they not accept help when people and organizations are more than willing to give it to them? There is no way the military regime can handle this alone. With that many people already living in poverty before the cyclone, it is quite obvious the country does not have resources to handle a disaster of this size.
What is really saddening as well is that in these kinds of regimes, Human Rights Watch has had to warn people not to leave their aid unattended, since the regime may steal the supplies, BBC writes. That is just plain horrible. They fear that over 2 million people in Burma can be starving and the regime wants to steal food aid. Once again, why?
Human rights is something that we all should actively promote. Join an organization, donate some money to causes supporting human rights, or just keep the discussion alive. As long as the word is spreading, more people can be mobilized, and those people who need our help have a bigger chance of being helped.

It's a hit

I know I don't usually do lyrics, but these lyrics are just too good to be ignored. It's Rilo Kiley - It's a Hit. Even if the song wasn't fabulous, the lyrics would still make it an awesome song.

Any chimp can play human for a day.
Use his opposable thumbs to iron his uniform
and run for office on election day
fancy himself a real decision maker
and deploy more troops than salt in a shaker.

But it's a jungle when war is made,
and you'll panic and throw your own shit at the enemy.
The camera pulls back to reveal your true identity.
Look, it's a sheep in wolf's clothing.
A smoking gun holding ape.

Any asshole can open up a museum.
Put all of the things he loves on display
so everyone could see them.
The house, a car, a thoughtful wife
ordinary moments in his ordinary life.

But if she breaks a smile, she'll give you away
'cause no one wants to pay to see your happiness.
No one wants to pay to see your day to day
and I'm not buying it either
but I'll try selling it anyway.

Any idiot can play Greek for a day
and join a sorority or write a tragedy
and articulating all that pain
and maybe you'll get paid.

But it's a sin when success complains,
and your writers block-it don't mean shit.
Just throw it against the wall and see what sticks.
Gotta write a hit
I think this is it.
It's a hit.

And if it's not,
then it's a holiday for a hanging
yeah it's a holiday for a hanging
yeah it's a holiday for a hanging
yeah shoo-bop-shoo-bop my baby

Any fool can play executioner for a day,
and say with fingers pointed in both directions
'he went thataway',
It's only a switch or syringe,
awh, exempt from eternal sins.
But you still wear a cross,
and you think you're gonna get in.

Ah, but the pardons never come from up-stairs.
They're always a moment too late,
but it's entertainment
keep the crowd on their toes,
it's justice, we're safe.
It's not a hit, it's a holiday
shoo-bop-shoo-bop my baby

It's a holiday for a hanging, yeah
It's a holiday for a hanging, yeah
It's a holiday for a hanging, yeah
It's a holiday for a hanging, yeah

I'm a holiday for a hanging,
I'm a holiday for a hanging,
I'm a holiday yeah
I'm a holiday for a hanging,


It's a holiday for a hanging, yeah

Ps. If you already didn't, read the lyrics through and have the current president of USA in mind...

Good Luck Mr. Obama!

I'm crossing my fingers that Obama will win tonight's primary. I don't particularly like Hilary Clinton. I think her campaign is somewhat despicable with her husband being aggressive and her playing on people's fear. And today when I read this article where she says she will "obliterate" Iran if they launch a nuclear attack on Israel, I really wish she wouldn't win the party nomination for the Democrats. I don't really want another war and I think it seems she's more likely to resort to that solution rather than go the diplomatic way. Also, I don't think anyone who's been in the White House, so close to power, can come out of there without being corrupt, albeit slightly less corrupt probably than the Republicans are.
I might be wrong, I'm not claiming to be an expert on American politics, I just have a better feeling about Obama. Plus, someone who has such fabulous posters as Obama's "cambio" ones really deserves to win. I believe in change and I'm also totally weak for the Spanish language. (I tried to put up an image of the poster here, but because of Murano's internet it won't work, so you'll have to google it to see it in all its fabulousness)

Congratulations Kosovo!

So Kosovo declared its independence today. Congratulations to that! It wasn't really a surprise as it's been in the newspapers for a week or two. It still makes me happy though. It always does when an area of a country that quite obviously wants to become independent does so. I also can't understand the big uproar from Serbia. If they do not want to be a part of your country (and a unanimous parliamentary vote for independence quite strongly reveals that), let them go. You can't hold them against their will. There will be more conflicts that way.
I saw a car driving down Great Western Road today with the flag of Albania hanging out the window. The people inside were shouting and playing some music, probably Albanian. They seemed happy, so I'm happy for them!

Here are articles about the declaration of independence if anyone wants to read them:
BBC
Dagens Nyheter

British politics

The first semester of politics is all about British politics, and of course we look a bit deeper into Scottish politics. The thing about British politics is that the political system has always struck me as a bit weird and maybe a bit outdated. It does seem to work though, this country is not in ruins yet. I can't, however, claim to be an expert of British politics as I have only read a little about it in my English A course in Uppsala.
The more I read about it, the more complex I understand it is. And the more I read about it, the more weird and outdated I find the political system. I don't have the whole picture yet, and I'm not sure I will ever get it, as British politics is not the area I'd like to specialise in, but in a multicultural, multinational country with as big class divisions as this, I do find the first-past-the-post system to be a bit unfair, a bit undemocratic and very disproportional. It certainly has me perplexed, and very much so.

The distraction of the British political system and all the complexity that comes with it is very welcome as it seems I have things I'd rather not think about. I didn't really realise it until now, but I suppose there are always things you don't want to think about. Especially when you live in a country 2,5 hours away from your family and then another hour of domestic travel. When that is the case you would rather not think about it too much as great waves of homesickness can come over you and threaten to drown you.
Also, it might be the music. Apparently I've put all the depressing songs by Smashing Pumpkins on my "bra musik" playlist. There is nothing like Smashing Pumpkins to make me brood.

"I hope he's not brooding. I shouldn't like to think of him as being unhappy."
"I expect he's getting used to things." - Brenda in conversation with Jock (A Handful of Dust, p. 172)

Hunting is human rights

So apparently, according to an article in the Independent some people in Britain think that hunting is a part of human rights. I don't actually believe they really think that, but they've found some loopholes, or rather some laws they can press upon to try to legalise hunting again. I find it hilarious. Not the hunting, I don't really like hunting as a sport unless it is actually necessary in order to prevent overpopulation that will disturb the order of nature.
No, the thing I find hilarious is these people's intelligence and cunningness to use EU laws to try to override British laws. Well, if they actually had a case and Britain was doing something that wasn't according to EU laws, I suppose it would be fair enough, but using human rights as an excuse to hunt, that's just genious! Personally, I hope they won't get through the legalisation of hunting, but it still makes me giggle.
I am a politically correct person. It's against my personal beliefs to use something like human rights to benefit personally in this way, but I can't help but finding it brilliant. If I had no scruples and didn't really care for human rights, I probably would too. Although, I do find it wrong to use laws that are there to protect human rights to try to justify killing animals. That disgusts me. But due to the cleverness of these people I have to wish them good luck even if I hope they don't win.

Mutilation

In this article, circumcision of Egyptian females is discussed. I think circumcision is disgusting. And inhibiting a woman's sexuality like that while risking her life just to make sure she can't have premarital sex is inhumane.
As a European who have grown up in a society where sex isn't such a big deal, where you can do as you please with your body as long as you feel good about it (to a certain extent of course. There are always idiots who are afraid of sexuality and will try to make you feel bad about your sexuality) apart from prostitution, it is really hard to understand why someone would like to do something like this to people they love. I mean, how can a parent give a doctor permission to mutilate their daughter's sex organ? Especially when they know how much pain and suffering this will cause them, not to mention the risk of the child dying.
It's all about the patterns and behaviour that they have been taught by society. This is very difficult to break, and often you don't even know it's not really your choice, but it's a choice that has been made for you by society. Females have been circumcised for generations, and it's not likely to stop now. This is what they know and what they have known since birth, and long before that.
It's appalling. And what's even more appalling is that many of the girls agree that this circumcision is necessary in order to get a husband. Although what really worries me is when they say something like this (my translation):
"In Egypt there is peace and safety because of circumcision."
I can't really claim to be an expert on Egypt and the society there, but I have a really hard time to believe that a vagina has anything to do with homeland security in any country. And if it does, that's just sick.
Please, leave these girls alone. Sexual organs have been there since we grew out of being one-celled organisms, and they're not impure, they're not ugly and there's nothing wrong in having them. Just let them be.

Rosita

Today I found an article on DN.se that really broke my heart. The world isn't fair, and there are a lot of things that have gone wrong, but some days some things just really break my heart.
This article made me want to cry. It's about a 14-year old girl in Nicaragua who has been sexually abused and raped for several years. 19 months ago, when she was 12, she gave birth to a child as a consequence of a rape that her step father is believed to have gone through with.
Nicaragua apparently has a law that forbids abortion and therefore this 12-year old child, who has already been through more than a lot of other people have at her age, has to live with a reminder of this every day. All because of some Catholic people who reckon that being able to choose what is done to your body is insignificant. It's horrible and it really makes me want to weep.
It's because of these days and because of everything horrible I read in the news papers that makes me want to study politics and work against it. No one should ever have to go through things like these. I know it's impossible, there is no way to create a utopia and the world will always be unfair, cold and cruel. But I think that the smallest change you can do for someone's life, the smallest step in the right direction to human rights is worth it. Imagine what it means to that individual.
So start making a difference today even if it means just to keep a debate alive. Never, ever give up, and if you ever stop caring, think of Rosita.