Advice for Norway

Two weeks ago, my 12-year old daughter and I strolled through downtown Oslo. It was a beautiful city back then, as it will again be someday soon. As my nieces pointed out the various government buildings at the center of downtown, I remember commenting, "They are so very accessible," meaning that there were no imposing walls surrounding them, and I didn't see any heavily armed guards.  I'm attaching a couple photos I took in downtown Oslo during my trip.   As I walked around, the thought keep recurring: This would be a wonderful place to live (I write this based on many conversations I've had with Norwegians, such as this one). And now it deeply saddens me to hear of the recent bombing and shootings. I would only have one bit of advice for the Norwegians:  Don't do what the U.S. did after 9/11. Don't trash your civil liberties.  Don't vilify each other based on "lack of patriotism."    Don't drum up evidence to start an unnecessary war somewhere.   If your conservatives become overt warmongerers as a result of these tragedies, demand that they provide substantial evidence to substantiate whatever claims they make.  Whoever caused this, be very careful to not overgeneralize your anger toward large groups of people who are innocent.   Don't get suckered into draining your treasury to feed new-found paranoia.  Don't become a closed society.  Don't let anyone disparage the importance of your civil rights. Don't let this tragedy define you or obsess you.   Beware that a bomb can, if you are not careful, become a fuse to a much bigger self-imposed tragedy. Don't self-destruct, like the United States is doing. To my Norwegian friends and family, I am so very saddened to hear of this tragedy.   I love your country.

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Free Speech Above All

Johann Hari on Religious Censorship This video is an impassioned declaration on the importance of not allowing "sensitivities" and an unwillingness to offend become a force against free speech.  It is also, underneath, an argument for rejecting the pseuodthink of irrational defenses of absurdity.

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Denominations of the Tea Party

There appear to be three overlapping major factions of the current political movement called the Tea Party. I had thought there were really only two until recently. The two to which I allude are the Theocracy Movement, and the Libertarians. Sure, there is actually a registered Libertarian political party. But as of the last election cycle, unelectable Libertarians like Rand Paul were elected under the Republican banner due to Tea Party support. But today I found the article The Tea Party Stormfront that shows a real and dangerous overlap between the Tea Party and Stormfront, an umbrella for the KKK and other White Nation groups. This article shows how you can look up the data yourself, and how to find the instructions given by StormFront for their members to blend in with and lend their support to the Tea Party. With luck, this is the least fraction of the whole. It does seem to me that the Theocracy branch is really the bulk of this tail trying to wag to political dog. And making scary progress. Discussion?

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Some Thoughts On Independence Day

It’s the Fourth of July.  I’ve been pondering whether or not to write something politically pithy or culturally au courant and here it is, almost noon, and I’ve made no decision.  I think I pretty much said what I had to say about my feelings about this country a few posts back for Memorial Day, so I don’t think I’ll revisit that. Last night we sat on our front porch while the pre-Fourth fireworks went off in the surrounding neighborhood.  Folks nearby spend an unconscionable amount of money on things that blow up and look pretty and we benefit from the show.  Neither of us like large crowds, so going down to the St. Louis riverfront for the big explosion is just not an option.  The older I get the less inclined I am to squeeze myself into the midst of so much anonymous humanity. We’ll likely go to bed early tonight after watching the rest of our neighborhood go up in brilliance, starbursts, and smoke. I suppose the only thing I’d like to say politically is a not very original observation about how so many people seem to misidentify the pertinent document in our history.  The Declaration of Independence is often seen as more important than the Constitution and this is an error, one which leads us into these absurd cul-de-sacs of debate over the religious nature of our Founding.  [More . . . ]

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