21. desember 2002

The US blocks deal to bring cheap medicine to developing countries One hundred and forty-three countries supported a deal in the World Trade Organisation to allow developing countries access to cheap medicines for use against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. One country was against: The United States. The US negotiators argued the proposed deal would allow too many drug patents, owned by medical corporations, to be set aside. Is anybody surprised that the new patriotic CNN ignores this news item? So does NYT and a number of other major US media, putting a small notice deeply buried into its online issues, if at all. 3:49:46 PM    comment []

What is faith and why should we need such a thing? The reference to "faith" is in many ways the last line of defence for the true believer. These defence lines go through many stages from the cocksure assertions that their religious beliefs is proven beyond doubt, so common among fundamentalists, all the way down to saying "we gotta have faith." Rhetorically, a reference to "faith" finds resonnance with most believers. But what, exactly, is "faith"? [read more...] 12:24:27 PM    comment []

What about racism is immoral? Sometimes you have to look underneath popular slogans, even when it means you will find all sorts of uncomfortable problems. It is obviously morally unacceptable to denigrate a group of people because their skin complexion is a bit darker than yours, and their ancestors are traced to another continent or region. The word 'racist,' however, while being a convenient short form describing a large number of morally unacceptable chauvinistic activities and sayings, has some characteristics of a gross oversimplification. Let us, for the sake of argument, look at a number of chauvinistic insults: "Dirty Swedish moron." "Dirty Italian moron." "Dirty Turkish moron." Now, of these, only the last would have any reasonable chance of having you labeled a racist in Europe. Why exactly? The answer is of course that some forms of chauvinism are generally understood to be much more politically dangerous than others. In previous centuries, Europeans (and, later, North Americans of European descent) greatly misused their power and subdued, exploited and enslaved people around the world. Some justifications used for this were racial. Now, historically this was nothing new. It was in fact totally normal. Every culture in history typically considered their own superiour and when they were able to overpower their neighbours, this caused them few qualms. Europeans, on the other hand, actually started, slowly but surely, to develop scruples. Slavery was first outlawed in Britan, and the British empire banned it worldwide. From meager beginnings, the idea of a single human family and universal equalty started working its way from ancient philosophic ideal to actual expressed reality. What followed, especially from massive soul-searching and guilt after the horrors of World War II, was a cultuiral agreement that racism is an absolute evil. The United States, in the 50s and 60s, started a process exorcising its own ghosts. People of European descent were, undoubtedly, the first in history to experience a serious, lasting cultural counter-reaction to the racism that had hitherto been near-universal. The reason racism started to be defined as chauvinism by white people towards other ethnic groups is that racism were universally declared an evil here, first. In other parts of the world, "racial" chauvinism is still the rule. In East-Asia, terms for "foreigner" are used matter-of-factly in a way unheard of here (except as unaccepted racial slurs). Among some non-European ethnic groups and nations, the term "racist" has to some degree become a convenient weapon used, ironically, to justify their own unchecked chauvinism. A process started here to rid the world of ethnical and national discrimination. It is by no means over. But if it is to succeed, in the long term, the anathema of racism must also extend to how other cultures look at themselves and at us. 12:11:07 PM    comment []

#9 Dream I very rarely remember dreams. I assume I dream as much as anyone else, but I rarely remember them. Last night I had one of those dreams I remember, and again it reinforced my opinion that dreams are not very much about your subciscious trying to tell you anything important. What I dreamt was that I was having breakfast at an hotel. Actually, two different successive hotels, eating breakfast at both. I was making a massive order for breakfast, including, I remember, scrambled eggs, bacon, absurd amounts of toast and a whole lot I no longer recall. No cryptical subconscious message there; just a very crude call from my stomach, which was very empty. The last time I had a dream I remember, in January, it was a far less pleasant experience. It was one of those weird, normal dreams where I met a lot of regular people, friends and acquaintances, in highly unusual settings and combinations. Suddenly I felt a terrible pain in my penis, and the outcome, including stomach-turning amounts of blood and gore in explicit detail, I will not go into here. My first thought at waking up was that "oh, this means [my ex whom I spent last xmas with] will be the last woman I ever slept with." Luckily, it was just my dream who had exaggarated grossly some slight penile discomfort I had from sleeping on my stomach. It was fine and functional, thank you, as soon as I had recovered from the nasty shock. I am not sure I dare go to sleep again now, after writing this. Picture: Dream Caused by a Bee Flight by Salvador Dali 10:32:33 AM    comment []

US vetoes Anti-Israel resolution Predictably, the US has vetoed a Syria sponsored UN resolution condemning Israel for the deaths of 3 UN workers. 7:08:38 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.01.03; 04:00:28.