Holy Sinner's Traces on the Margins of Terrorism

The Future of Terrorism

2007-07-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

Terrorism threat is not so much about what actually happens , but rather about what might have happened, or what might happen in the future. Just look at the latest incidents. What actually happened was an unsuccessful attempt to commit a crime. In the meantime, crimes on much bigger scale are actually being committed around the world. What we are scared of now is what might be coming next. And that, in its turn, depends very much on the spectacularisation of the "event" through the media, by politicians, etc.

As explained by Derrida, terrorism is not about "what is presently happening or what has happened in the past but the precursory signs of what threatens to happen. It is the future that determines the unappropriability of the event, not the present or the past. Or at least, if it is the present or the past, it is only insofar as it bears on its body the terrible sign of what might or perhaps will take place, which will be worse than anything that has ever taken place."

Will we allow the traumatic experience to carry away our common sense, or will we try to cope with it using patience and rationality? The choice is still ours. Personally, I am more worried about possible luggage overweight than terrorism when taking a flight next week.

Radio Jah Jah Attacking You

2007-07-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

This is official! Svenskterror's radiostation is up and running. Enjoy music, not silence. (No offence to Depeche Mode - and by the way their song "Enjoy the Silence" is one of my favourites). So, just click on the icon below and delve into the mysterious world of sounds...

Warning... One! Oh! Eight!

2007-06-28T07:27:00.000-07:00

The new album of 108 is out on the streets killing people!

And they put some of my photos from their show in Stockholm on their website. I suppose things like this can really make a dead heart making a new beat.

Style Competition

2007-06-28T06:08:00.000-07:00

Is it me who looks like Jarvis Cocker, or is he trying to steal my style?

look and decide yourself!

Prophets of Mass Media Did It Again

2007-06-28T05:53:00.000-07:00

So many angry, crazy Muslim radicals in the world... Scary, right? Or is just one rage boy enough to scare you?

Christopher Hitchens thinks we should be more laid back and consider that a few extremists do not represent the whole Muslim population: We may have to put up with the Rage Boys of the world, but we ought not to do their work for them.

Inshallah, indeed!

History Today, History Tomorrow - Still This Side Of Heaven

2007-06-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

The (International) Noise Conspiracy gigs this summer:

Jun 10 - Lisboa (Portugal) @ Alive 07 Festival
Jun 29 - Bilbao (Spain) @ Bilbao BBK Live Festival
Aug 4 - Lustenau (Austria) © Szene Festival
Aug 24 - Lüdinghausen (Germany) @ Area 4 Festival
Sep 20/21 - The Baltic Sea (Sweden/Finland) @ Rock'n'Roll-båten
Sep 28/29 - Hamburg (Germany) @ Reeperbahn Festival

Damn it, I have to wait until September! If I'm still in Sweden, which is fairly unpredictable in these times of change... But if you happen to be somewhere near where this band plays, go and see them, it's worth it, all 1000%. Sweaty boys of revolution rock'n'roll will shower on you experience of political entertainment (or entertaining politics) at its best. And don't forget your dancing shoes, for God's sake!

Posthuman Madness (In The Name Of Justice)

2007-06-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

All animals are equal.
(Peter Singer)

Alice: But I don't want to go among mad people.
The Cat: Oh, you can't help that. We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.
Alice: How do you know I'm mad?
The Cat: You must be. Or you wouldn't have come here.
Alice: And how do you know that you're mad?
The Cat: To begin with, a dog's not mad. You grant that?
Alice: I suppose so.
The Cat: Well, then, you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.
(”Alice in Wonderland”, Lewis Carroll)

.. deconstruction is mad about this kind of justice. Mad about this desire for justice.
(Jacques Derrida)

Bigmouth Goes On Striking

2007-05-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the birthday of Morrissey, and I went to a really nice Morrissey birthday party in Stockholm. DJ played only Morrissey and The Smiths... And the crowd was crazy, singing along and dancing all over the place. Lovely, lovely event... Another sign that the world is not moving towards doomsday. Not yet, but who knows... So don't be a lazy sunbather, do something to make this world a better place! At least try to be gentle and kind in this otherwise often very cruel world...

Some photos from the party can be found on my Latvian blog page.

Touch Me (Not)

2007-05-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

I have nothing against close body contact. Hugging, kissing, you name it. It's a nice way to show your affection for another human being.

It is not so nice though when close body contact means being searched by security personnel at the airport.

I was going to take the plane from Riga to Stockholm, it's a flight that takes just some 40 minutes. If anybody wants to blow up any plane, I think this one would be the last option. And me? Did I have any of what those anti-terror warriors call signal elements? Hmm. Was it my blue jeans, my newly acquired Brainstorm t-shirt, or perhaps Gucci glasses? I have no clue. The fact is that after entering the security check area (and by the way, I was the only passenger there at the moment) and calmly walking through the metal detector, I was called aside to be searched. Hands up, and I had to experience finger gliding all over my body, at one point almost touching my balls. Disgusting.

I thought that confiscating my hair spray (it was bigger than 100ml, and the fact that the bottle was almost empty was ignored by the security personnel) on the way from Stockholm to Riga was enough. Apparently it wasn't.

So you see, there is a reason why I hate flying and prefer taking train or bus. Unfortunately, it's not always possible. Therefore now and then I am forced to enter an airport - which is undoubtedly a mystical place, since just by entering the building you automatically lose a part of your human dignity. Go there, stand behind the line, take off your belt, show your passport, drink your water here or we will take it from you, etc etc ad nauseum.

Am I mad? No, I just want to keep a bit of privacy and secrecy. The absence of secrecy is a totalitarian society. And I still have some hope that we are on the way towards something better, not falling back to repetition of yesterday's mistakes.

Mr Bono, 47 glorious years!!!

2007-05-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

Take Care of Yourself

2007-05-06T13:32:00.000-07:00

"Take care!" How many times have I said this when leaving or written at the bottom of letters... But not often I have thought about it in the meaning that Viktor Tsoy entailed in his song Следи за собой (Take Care of Yourself). Curiously enough, he himself died in a car-crash in my homecountry Latvia... And the final album of his band which features Следи за собой was released posthumously.

You can listen to it on his band's Myspace site. Here are the lyrics translated to English...

Today they say "Goodbye" to someone,
Tomorrow they will say "Farewell, forever"
And the wound in your heart bleeds profusely.
Tomorrow someone returns home,
Only to stand upon the ruins of their own city.
And someone will fall from the top of a crane...

So take care of yourself... Be careful...

Tomorrow morning, someone lying in bed
Will realize that there's no cure for his sickness,
Someone leaving home will get into a car accident.
Tomorrow, somewhere in a hospital
The hand of a young surgeon will slip.
Someone walking in the woods will fall into a mine...

So take care of yourself... Be careful...

Tonight an airplane flies above us,
Tomorrow it will crash into the ocean
And all the passengers will die...
Tomorrow, somewhere, who knows where?
There will be war, an epidemic, a huge blizzard...
And black holes in the vastness of space...

So watch out for yourself, Be careful...

Integration Problem in Latvia

2007-05-06T12:47:00.000-07:00

Finally somebody said it. Latvian politicians live in their own world, disconnected from society they are supposed to rule. Integrate them, now!!!

What kind of integration can we brag about, if even the government has problems to integrate in Latvian society? Therefore we have society not with two communities, but with three communities, the third one being the ruling class.
(Newspaper DIENA)

Swedish Comment on Tallin and Moscow Incidents

2007-05-03T03:13:00.000-07:00

Swedish minister for foreign affairs comments after the latest developments...

Sovereign states have the right to take sovereign decisions about where to place their statues and memorial signs. This is what Estonia has done.

Sovereign states have the responsibility to respect international rules regarding international contacts. This is what Russia has not done.

With all this said, it should be added that we all probably have the responsibility to treat European history with a dose of carefullness, and try to show mutual respect.

Estonian Lesson about Historical Symbols

2007-05-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

Riots in Tallin. Who has not heard about them by now? One must be deaf and blind to have missed the hype.

Lots of talking about different views on history, (un)successful integration, Russian pressure, European attitude etc. It's all fine. Political analysts have something to chew on, and journalists have something to fill the editorial columns with.

But for me there is only one question. What the heck was the point with moving the damn monument? Some Estonian scholars (and I want to stress this - all of them were Estonians!) warned about the consequences. Does not seem that Estonian politicians have listened though. Symbols are powerful tools for power politics. Logical and rational thinking can easily be put aside when the heat of hurt feelings kicks in, especially when it comes to such violent outbursts like riots.

Why stir people's feelings then? The monuments from the Soviet time in Baltics that could and should have been removed have already met their destiny of destruction in the beginning of 90-ies. I still remember how a huge statue of Lenin was removed from the central square at my hometown. What I don't remember is any protests, what to speak of riots. Just a huge crowd of people watching how the statue is being uprooted by a powerful crane and brutally thrown down to the ground. Clapping hands and smiling faces. Singing some patriotic songs. In other words - sort of reclaim the city party! I have no idea what happened to te monument. But it was certainly never reinstalled in any other place, as it was done with the Bronze Soldier in Tallin.

Well, there are still some ugly monuments reminding of the Soviet era for many people in Latvia. As well as Estonia and Lithuania I guess. I would say - let these monuments stay where they are. As reminders of the past. History cannot be erased, it can be only interpreted in different ways. Good scientific arguments about the history would at this point, more than 15 years after regaining independence, be much better than messing around with historical symbols.

Hopefully Estonian lesson will not be forgotten.

Shoot 'em Bastards?

2007-04-18T13:34:00.000-07:00

I think this happens all the time. In the face of pointless, mad, irrational violence people often get these equally pointless, mad and irrational proposals for how to diminish chances for such violence taking place. Thanks God not all the time. But there is a certain tendency... When we see something which we cannot comprehend, we try to escape the real problem.

This time I am talking about Virginia Tech shooting.

While looking through some commentaries kindly provided by Svenska Dagbladet's editorial blog, I came up on this one. And I almost exploded by just reading it. Does the author really want to suggest that shootings like this one can be rooted out by giving more guns to people? Any human being in his sane mind can see that too many guns in too many hands is the overall problem in U.S.

Of course, just having some gun-free zones is not gonna solve the problem (though there certainly is a reason behind why places connected with education should be kept gun-free). But giving anybody both the right and possibility to act like a sherriff is nothing else but madness. Shooting down one mad gunman in one case is not gonna solve the deeper prolematics. And even less so will do just the probability that perhaps, maybe some bystander might have the possibility to take the guy out.

Religious Competition

2007-04-16T00:09:00.000-07:00

Gender Trouble, Why Make It Double?

2007-04-13T02:52:00.000-07:00

Scenario A: a woman puts on slacks and sneakers, a metallica t-shirt, no makeup and a baseball cap

Scenario B: a man puts on a skirt and blouse, heels, a little makeup and curly hair

the interesting point is that the male and the female are BOTH "cross-dressing" - however the oddness of a female doing so wore off about 45 years ago.

why are male gender roles SO TIGHTLY controlled and enforced?

(honestly stolen from vic108)

Survival Sickness in the World of Terrorism

2007-04-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

Nearly 500 terrorist attacks in Europe last year, according to Europol. Don't you wonder how it is possible that we are still alive after all these attacks? And how many of them did you notice?

The ones who certainly noticed the attacks are those ca 700 who got arrested in connection with them. Though not too many of them got convicted for the supposed crimes...

Infinite justice, here we come! Everyone has the right to be accused of terrorism and get arrested, just to be announced innocent a bit later! Though positive discrimination is reserved for islamists, separatists, left-wing activists and, of course, anarchists. And poor nation-states, they are still completely exempted from the very possibility of involving in terrorist activities. The same poor states which are "often powerless to ensure the protection and the liberty of its own citizens before terrorist menace, whether or not it has a religious or nationalist alibi", according to Derrida.

We still have some things to work on... The fight goes on, comrades!!!

Everything Sounds Like Propaganda

2007-03-26T07:38:00.000-07:00

Is this propaganda too?

Well, they dare to pose the question towards themselves. That might as well be the propaganda test... Real propagandists would never accept questioning their position.

God Bless Iceland

2007-03-26T01:45:00.000-07:00

This weekend we lost one hour of our day. You think it's all about saving electricity and giving us more sunlight hours during the day? Well well, the idea was actually intended by a golf player who wanted to play longer in the afternoons... Apparently upper middle-class capitalist lobbies knew how to use propaganda already more than 100 years ago.

I think I will move to Iceland, they do not participate in this fucking up my daily rhythm. And besides that, it seems to be a nice country in other ways too. Not member of EU, the first to recognize my homecountry's independence. And an exotic country both with regards to nature and culture (just think about their language...).

So, I'm almost packing my bags. At least mentally.

Spring Things

2007-03-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

This is what makes me feel spring-time also inside...

Sea-buckthorn.
These berries contain 6 times more vitamin C than orange, besides vitamin A and E, and flavonoids and antioxidants... And no, I don't go around crawling in thorny bushes, I buy a health drink at the local food-store. Not too expensive, tastes very good and refreshing. In other words - perfect!

Shakti & John McLaughlin
Indian tunes with a touch of jazz, or the other way around... Simply lovely. Makes you feel like dancing, flying, and being completely free.
And bear in mind - this is not some cheap new age bullshit. This is about a bunch of very skilled musicians doing something profoundly innovative. They are not playing gods, they ARE gods...

John D. Caputo
Brilliant in his elaborations on Derrida and deconstruction. He makes it much easier to digest Jackie's thoughts without unnecessary over-simplifying the content. And on top of that he adds his own insights, which for me seem to be very interesting. And very inspiring, which is of utmost importance of course...

This "list" was of course by no means exhaustive... Waiting for more to come. Á venir, avenir...

Some Sounds

2007-03-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

Oh, and here is my 1:41 minutes for Anna Politkovskaya broadcasted by Radio Latvia. Sorry, only in Latvian. BBC has not employed me yet.

Moving On

2007-03-21T03:04:00.000-07:00

It is spring, finally. Besides quite a lot of wet snow on Monday the weather has been perfect.

And things are changing, as usual in springtime, hopefully for the best. Just got a new table today, there is a couple of vacancies to apply for, and perhaps taking that course in human rights and modern genetics (what a subject, right?)... The future is still unwritten, but it seems bright.

And of course Israel saying that what happened in Lebanon last year actually was war is a welcome admission. Better late than never.

Some things take time. Just like my job searching.

The Eyes of Anna Politkovskaya

2007-03-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

Today I went to the reading in memoriam of Anna Politkovskaya in Stockholm. Such readings were held in different countries, to make a stand against the political lie, and for the truth.

I saw her once. It was at the Gothenburgh Book Fair. She was telling about her newest book, and I made a radio feature about it when I returned to Stockholm.
Look at her eyes... It is said that eyes are the part human body that is least affected by aging. Which means that we keep our childish eyes for the rest of our lives. Though I think some try to hide them, even to the point of looking like dead, like machines and not human beings. Anna still had these eyes, and not only in the physical sense. If there is anything that can be called spiritual, I think that's what I saw in her eyes. And if you read her books, you can feel it too. That stare of truth that cuts right through your heart without any mercy. This world needs more of such eyes - the eyes that are not ashamed to be the eyes of a child, and not afraid to seek and see the truth, at any cost.

At any cost... Also life. But the bizzare thing is that the ones who silenced her have made her voice (through her books, through readings like the one today, through other journalists inspired by her, etc) only louder. Indeed, it is possible to make a lasting impact even by ones death.

Maybe the eyes never die?

And I Thought I Was Pretty Conservative...

2007-03-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

ACCORDING
TO YOUR ANSWERS,
The
political description that
fits you best is...

LIBERAL

LIBERALS usually embrace freedom of choice in personal

matters, but tend to support significant government control of the economy. They generally support a government-funded "safety net" to help the disadvantaged, and advocate strict regulation of business. Liberals tend to favor environmental regulations, defend civil liberties and free expression, support government action to promote equality, and tolerate diverse lifestyles.

The RED DOT on the Chart shows where you fit on the political map.

Your PERSONAL issues
Score is 80%.

Your ECONOMIC issues Score
is 40%.

You can find the test HERE.

The Mystery of Women and the Mystery of USA

2007-03-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

USA has always been, to put it mildly, inconsistent in its policies regarding many different spheres. Also regarding women.

Today Condoleezza Rice gave Courage Award to a number of women who have been especially successful in advocating women's rights and advancement, including Latvian journalist Ilze Jaunalksne. After she made several TV programs on political corruption, recordings of her private phone conversations (taped by Secret Police) were leaked to the media. Now she is about to get a compensation from the state, and I think this prize comes right in time.

Good!

Meanwhile, a well known Swedish singer Eva Dahlgren (if I remember correctly, she was Anna Lindh's (r.i.p.) favourite) has been indirectly blacklisted in USA. Her crime - contribution for CD Lullabies from the Axis of Evil. Apparently, women from the countries of so called axis of evil singing together with western artists is too much for the land of freedom.

Well, what can one say except stealing some words from Morrisse y:

In America
The land of the Free, they said
And of Opportunity
In a just and a truthful way
But where the President
Is never black, female or gay
And until that day
You’ve got nothing to say to me
To help me believe
In America

The Rule of Law, Kafka Style

2007-02-27T05:59:00.000-08:00

It is about to happen again. Somebody, not me or you of course, but one of those others (arabs, palestinians, immigrants, refugees - you name it), is called a terrorist and is soon going to face deportation to a country where torture is practiced...

Reading news can sometimes be like reading Kafka. What a process... Swedish secret police claims that the man is security risk, but refuses to give any grounds for this accusation. Nothing. Not a single shred of paper. Neither to the terrorist, nor to his lawyer.

The only reason why this terrorist still is not thrown out of the country is his poor health condition. What a nice and humane message - "as soon as you get better, we send you to the torture chamber, so you better stay sick, or what about getting even sicker?"

I think the real sickness is somewhere else though, it's in the heads of those who make decisions such as in this case. The proof is obvious.

And regarding Kafka's writings - I would prefer them to stay where they are, without making apparition in the real life, in Sweden, year 2007.

Union for Workers vs. Workers for Union

2006-12-13T05:49:00.000-08:00

Yes, what is meant to serve what - is trade union supposed to serve its members or the opposite? That's the question which appears in my head when I think about this latest trade union's protest action in Gothenburg. Why on earth do they need to start almost a crusade against one young owner of a small restaurant? According to the available information, those few persons who are employed at this place get even BETTER paid than they would be guaranteed by collective agreement, and NONE of them is member in the trade union.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees the right to join such unions and enjoy the protection offered by them: "Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests." The same declaration guarantees also right to not be member of any association: "No one may be compelled to belong to an association." To put it shortly, it's up to workers THEMSELVES to decide if they want to join the union or not.

Even if the trade union could argue that they have good intentions, namely to protect the interests of those who work in this restaurant, it does not seem to be a good argument for their cause. If the workers themselves are satisfied and get paid more than enough, what interests does the union protect? If they continue acting in the same direction, it will lead to bankruptcy for the restaurant, and accordingly to NO SALARY for the workers. How is that for justice?

Then again, trade union has used the good old argument that what they do is not unlawful, and therefore there is nothing wrong with their activities. Mixing up law with moral judgement seems never been demonstrated so bravely. There are many things that are legal that me or somebody else is still not doing - simply because we choose to do something else, or we consider these specific activities to be of no interest for us, for whatever reason.

What trade union seems to be doing in this case is, in my understanding, stubbornly following hard principles, even if it entails harming the ones they are supposed to protect. Oh, excuse me - of course they do not have to protect those traitors... Or do they? What is more important, trade union or its members?

For me the answer is obvious.

Lost to Live Together

2006-11-26T06:46:00.000-08:00

Watching Lost has become very frustrating for me. Really, what's wrong with these people? They don't seem to care about arranging even some very basic model of society... although they are forced to live with each other on this island where you never know what's gonna happen next. You hardly know anything at all.

And here I go, switching my sympathy from Jack to John, then to Sawyer, then to Kate... And so on. Power politics, so exciting - as long as it is just a TV show and does not affect my own life of course.

Learning to live together is not easy, but that's the only way. Indeed, we are all just like passengers of an airplane crashed on an island in the middle of nowhere.

Killing Whom/What in the Name of Whom/What?

2006-11-06T07:28:00.000-08:00

Killing Saddam Hussein, by hanging or any other way, is not gonna solve problems that Iraq is facing today. Nor will it be a sentence against all the dark period of his rule, as has been boldly proclaimed by Iraqi Prime minister. Death penalty as such, and also the method of execution, would rather entail giving new life to the norms and cultural patterns of that very dark period. Indeed, it would make the image of the martyr Saddam and the ghost of his rule more alive than ever - this time in the name of democracy, human rights and justice.

Perhaps Iraqi people should have the freedom to do what they see most compatible with their own sense of justice in this case. Why shouldn't they, after all the years of tyranny and oppression? Though this simple assumption should not stop criticism in the name of respect for their choice. Sensitivity does not have to entail silence. And not being silent does not have to entail violence.

Political Family

2006-10-26T14:39:00.000-07:00

A very nice point expressed in the words from Latvian poet Māra Zālīte:

Sometimes almost, almost
I believe the newspaper babble,
that in place of a father I have NATO
in place of a mother I have the UN,
and to support me as an orphan
soon in my palm will be a Euro.

United Gangsters Security Council

2006-10-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

The nuclear tests done by North Korea might, and should be condemned. But i have to agree with North Korea's UN ambassador on one point. Yes, UN Security Council in its current form is nothing else but gangsters. How otherwise can you call this peace-club of magic five who simultaneously are the biggest threat to the world peace?

The Right to Vote Right

2006-10-07T03:59:00.000-07:00

Parliamentary elections is said to be a sort of high time for democracy. Today it happens in Latvia. This time it will be a little bit special. It seems that many voters are tired of the established parties (and rightly so, in my opinion), so the radicals of both right-wing nationalist and pro-Russian parties have some real chance of getting enough votes to get seats in the parliament.

Democracy is, of course, power of the people. Or at least majority of the people. Though, as we know, this entails a risk - no less than risk to lose democracy altogether. Some of the people would love to use democracy as a tool for killing democracy. For example, some of the right-wing parties in Latvia, while frequently referring to their "right to opinion", want to severely restrict rights of sexual minorities. National Power Unity has gone so far as to call homosexuals "sexual criminals" and proposing criminalization of "homosexual propaganda". This very same party has the guts to claim that they are directly continuing the heritage of Latvian human rights group from the 80-ies, "Helsinki-86". Nothing from the goals back then has changed, the claim... Which is a plain lie. While Helsinki-86 stood for human rights, including the rights of national and linguistic minorities (even proposing minority schools in order to prevent assimilation), National Power Unity boldly claim on their website: " We do not support any multi-national policy with liberal tendencies as it serves not to interests of the nation." What do they really claim - the right to opinion or the right to lie?

Now back to the question of democracy. If by democracy we mean simply majoritarian rule, it is easy to see that such rule has the potential of becoming a majoritarian tyranny. We often see also that groups that want to restrict the rights and freedoms put forward bold and radical claims about their own rights and freedoms. In other words, the only interest they have in democracy and human rights is demolcracy and human rights as a way to get power. Not very conducive for the democratic process, to put it mildly... One way to go about it is to say that such claims are not valid, since rights are not to be used for damaging and destroying these very rights ( as is done for example in the European Convention on Human Rights, art. 17). Though we have to admit that determining such abusers of rights sometimes might be very tricky (people will of course try to claim that they have no intention whatsoever to limit or abolish rights), and it also presupposes that people do actually endorse human rights as such (which is not always the case).

Another possible way would be to reshape our understanding of democracy - democracy as a certain political regime. French philosopher Jacques Derrida argues for understanding democracy as a concept (and, notably, one of a kind) that inherits the valuable quality of self-reflection, and thus is indefinitely self-improving. Secret of democracy lies in the process, not in creating some static structure that will later be called democracy. What he means is thus that democracy, in order to be democracy, should never stop, never become static. Rather, it should be always moving, always changing, refining and improving itself. That is why Derrida opposes to democracy defined as a certain political regime. Not because we see variation of different manifestations of democracy in the world today - these different "democracies" could analyzed, compared and evaluated, thus leading to choosing the best model. Derrida takes another turn, for him the heart of democracy lies in its ability for self-reflection. As soon as one regime would be called democracy, it would mean the end of democracy itself. Therefore democracy does not exist as a thing, but does exist as a mode of doing things and as a direction.

So the question about radical right-wing parties is not spinning around their right to hold their opinion - it is a question of the existence of democracy and rights altogether. How to deal with such undemocratic democrats is another question, but only legislative measures (criminalisation of hate speech, forbidding racist organisations, etc) will surely not be enough.

Back on Track

2006-10-07T03:48:00.000-07:00

The summer is really over, and I am more or less permanently back in Stockholm. Now with master degree in human rights.

And I am back here as well, ready to write, write, write...

The Dream or Nightmare of EU

2006-07-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

EU is a fantasy, a specter that is haunting us and giving us more trouble than good. I have been saying this again and again with references to different EU-related incidents in my life. Here is the most recent one.

I have been using Internet services of my Swedish Bank for several years. To do that I have to have a small device which is generating codes to log in to the website. Since I lost this little gadget somewhere in Italy, upon my arrival to Stockholm I went straight to one of the bank offices to get a new one. This is not supposed to be anything complicated, just to pay 250 SEK, and that's it. Well, in my case it became a bit funny. My Swedish ID card had expired, and my bank didn't want to accept my Latvian passport, on the grounds that it does not count as a valid Swedish identification document. Valid Swedish identification document, as I got to know, is either an EU-passport or a Swedish ID card. The problem is that we in Latvia don't have EU-passports yet. So, in order to get this little device that I need to use services of my own bank I need to get a new Swedish ID card. That would take at least 3 weeks, the time I don't have at the moment.

And it is not only about convenience. Paying my bills through the phone costs, well, first of all phone-call itself, and then the bank is taking a fee for every bill paid. Through Internet it doesn't cost anything besides one single fee I pay for a year.

When I opened my bank account a few years ago, I didn't have a Swedish ID card. I could use my Latvian passport. What has happened now? It is the same passport I used back then, but now somehow it's become useless. Of course some would say that since it is a private bank it's their own business how they do with foreign passports. But state is restricting activities of private actors in many different ways. And why should they let a bank refuse to accept an internationally recognized, valid document?

Thank you, EU! Just give me more trouble, and be sure, I will make your existence not easy. It's a promise.

Please, Say Something!!!

2006-05-24T13:39:00.000-07:00

"No comments." That was the answer that Ineta Ziemele, the leading human rights expert in Latvia, now working for European Court of Human rights, gave as an answer when she recently was asked by a Latvian newspaper about her opinion on the harsh things certain Latvian politicians have said regarding sexual minority rights.

What is this? Some typical lawyer attitude, or? I mean, seriously, she is well-known and respected person in Latvia, she could have raised her voice and said something. But no. Silence.

If this is what is considered to be impartiality then I don't want to be impartial.

A Quote for Not Just Today

2006-05-20T06:26:00.000-07:00

To understand political power aright, and to derive from its original, we must consider what state all men are naturally in, and that is a state of perfect freedom to order their actions and dispose of their possessions as they think fit, without asking leave or depending upon the will of any other man.

(John Locke)

Another Day, the Same Revolution

2006-05-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

It doesn't happen very often that I read something and the only reflection I get is expressed by one word. But a quotation from this book, published in 1967... What can I say?

No other problem is as important to me as a difficulty I encounter throughout the long daylight hours: how can I invent a passion, fulfill a wish or construct a dream in the daytime in the way my mind does spontaneously as I sleep? What haunts me are my unfinished actions, not the future of the human race or the state of the world in the year 2000. I could not care less about hypothetical possibilities, and the meandering abstractions of the futurologists leave me cold. If I write, it is not, as they say, "for others." I have no wish to exorcise other people's ghosts. I string words together as a way of getting out of the well of isolation, because I need others to pull me out. I write out of impatience, and with impatience. I want to live without dead time. What other people say interests me only in as much as it concerns me directly. They must use me to save themselves just as I use them to save myself. We have a common project. But it is out of the question that the project of the whole man should entail a reduction in individuality. There are no degrees in castration.
(Raoul Vaneigem, The Revolution of Everyday Life)

Exactly.

Sports, Politics - and Peace among the Nations

2006-05-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

If Russia would play in the final, it would be a very positive step towards improving our relationship. It's such a good combination - Russia winning world championship in Latvia.
(Guntis Ulmanis, former president of Latvia, in a recent interview)

Really? Great idea, though I don't think it works this way in sports. Last time when Latvia won against Russia in hockey in St. Petersburg, it was not very conducive for any Latvian-Russian relationships.

Perhaps Latvia playing against Russia with 0-0 would be good. I remember how once a security guy in a pub in Stockholm (a pub where local football fans used to gather to watch games) told me - the best is if the result is 0-0, because then there are no fights. Otherwise, those who win are happy and smash the place... And those who lose do the same - because they are angry.

The Difference Between "Dissident" and "Stupid"

2006-05-01T11:56:00.000-07:00

"Dissident President" is the title of an article in "Opinion Journal" by Natan Sharansky, who was himself a well-known dissident in the Soviet Union.

According to Sharansky, Bush is to be considered a rare case of being a political leader and at the same time a dissident - because he has "deep belief in the universal appeal of freedom" and also practically applies it in his capacity as the president of the USA. And he stands his ground no matter all the criticism. In other words, a true believer, truly practising what he preaches, a saint-like figure.

I find Sharansky's definition of "dissident" slightly unorthodox, to put it mildly. According to Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary "dissident" means "a person who publicly disagrees with and criticizes their government". Most often the word is used when refering to political dissidents who show their disagreement with policies of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes - Sharansky being a perfect example of such a dissident. But how does Bush fit into this description? The chief of the world's mightiest military superpower, dissenting against what? If a simple fact of disagreeing with certain ideas qualifies one to be a dissident, then Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden & Co are also eligible to the glorious title of dissident.

Of course, one could try to argue that the above mentioned persons are the bad guys, that they are against freedom while Bush is for it. Still, we know that believing in the need of freedom is something fairly uncontroversial, something that majority of the world's population would subscribe to. There are certainly some mad people (like the above mentioned terrorist tandem) who would disagree. People in their countries or under their control who oppose the insanity of such leaders are certainly to be regarded as dissidents, not foreign presidents.

And then we know what Bush's "dissident activities" have meant for the whole discourse of international law and human rights. Fighting for freedom? Sure, for their own freedom to act as they want, no matter what. Sharansky calls this hardline stance "a dogged determination that any dissident can appreciate". I would rather call it extreme stubborness. And, yes, even stupidity. American anthropologist David Graeber explains Bush's stupidity as follows:

The Polish science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem once tried to imagine the stupidest computer ever constructed. This is what he came up with: a giant computer that could do only one problem, 2+2, thought the answer was 5, and when anyone tried to tell it otherwise, it grew outraged and tried to kill them. It is in this sense that we can call Bush stupid. He is a man used to deciding what he thinks is right, and then sticking to his guns no matter how insane, disastrous or simply incorrect his premises turn out to have been. But of course this is precisely the core of what his supporters like about him. He's firm, they say. Decisive. A strong leader. Not like those over-intellectual flip-floppers who are always changing their minds or going on about how many sides there are to a problem.
(The Political Metaphysics of Stupidity)

There is one peculiar similarity between what Sharansky calls "dissident", and what Graeber defines as "stupid". Both paint picture of a person that is completely unwilling to exert any kind of self-reflection. Graeber argues that it is an essentially anti-intellectual quality, mark of a genuinely stupid person. Sharansky presents a black & white understanding of the world where dissident is somebody who fights against the evil. Staying true to ones ideals is crucial, since otherwise dissident would commit "the greatest of moral failures". Self-reflection? Never! "No matter the consequences," argues Sharansky. Wait a second, did I get it right? I thought it was about the armageddon-style battle between the good and the evil, where the good will prevail in the end! Perhaps Sharansky understands very well that there is no great battle between good and evil powers, and there will never be any final victory to present. Still, for the sake of argument, he claims that "we are in the midst of a great struggle between the forces of terror and the forces of freedom". Accordingly, we have to choose our side. And there are only two sides. That will say, in the world as seen by Sharansky. The world of pure ideas, or more precisely ideologies (which are clashing, of course).

It is not hard to understand that there is no way out of such argumentation, since whatever criticism of certain activities of Bush in the international arena, he is still representing "the forces of freedom". Hence, criticizing is being on the wrong side. And even more so, it is abusing the possibility to criticize. We are able to criticize only because "there is a democracy agenda in the first place", says Sharansky. What he forgets is that democracy, or democracy agenda, was not created by Bush. The democracy agenda itself is fueled by discussions and constructive criticism of public policies. Cutting off this possibility would mean - and this is the bizzare point - oppression against eventual dissidents.

Of course, Sharansky doesn't need the dissidents anymore. He needs to obey his master, otherwise his master (and it's not very hard to figure out who that master is) might stop promoting his book "The Case For Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror". And since Sharansky has resigned from his post in Israeli government - to protest plans to withdraw Israeli settlers from the contested Gaza Strip - he might need that extra cash from selling his book to potential freedom fighters. Naturally, the article "Dissident President" ends with sales link for Sharansky's book.