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.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Radio Jah Jah Attacking You
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...
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Warning... One! Oh! Eight!
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.
Prophets of Mass Media Did It Again
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!
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!
Thursday, June 07, 2007
History Today, History Tomorrow - Still This Side Of Heaven
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!
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)
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)
(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)
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Bigmouth Goes On Striking
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.
Some photos from the party can be found on my Latvian blog page.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Touch Me (Not)
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.
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.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Take Care of Yourself
"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
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)
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)
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