Glamúr terroristar? - Ofbeldi í leit að málstað?

Vildi hér vekja athygli á viðtalti við Salman Rushdie sem finna má á vef Spiegel, þar er spjallað vítt og breitt, en mestan partinn er viðtalið þó um hryðjuverk múslíma, hver sé undirrót þeirra og þar fram eftir götunum.

Ég hvet alla til að lesa viðtalið, eins og gengur þá geta menn verið sammála, eða ósammála einstökum atriðum, en það er öllum hollt sem hafa áhuga á heimsmálunum að lesa skoðanir og viðhorf manns sem var dæmdur til dauða fyrir ritverk sín.

En grípum niður í viðtalið:

"SPIEGEL: While researching your books -- and especially now after the recent near miss in London -- you must be asking yourself: What makes apparently normal young men decide to blow themselves up?

Rushdie: There are many reasons, and many different reasons, for the worldwide phenomenon of terrorism. In Kashmir, some people are joining the so-called resistance movements because they give them warm clothes and a meal. In London, last year's attacks were still carried out by young Muslim men whose integration into society appeared to have failed. But now we are dealing with would-be terrorists from the middle of society. Young Muslims who have even enjoyed many aspects of the freedom that Western society offers them. It seems as though social discrimination no longer plays any role -- it's as though anyone could turn into a terrorist."

"Rushdie: I'm no friend of Tony Blair's and I consider the Middle East policies of the United States and the UK fatal. There are always reasons for criticism, also for outrage. But there's one thing we must all be clear about: terrorism is not the pursuit of legitimate goals by some sort of illegitimate means. Whatever the murderers may be trying to achieve, creating a better world certainly isn't one of their goals. Instead they are out to murder innocent people. If the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, for example, were to be miraculously solved from one day to the next, I believe we wouldn't see any fewer attacks."

"Rushdie: Lenin once described terrorism as bourgeois adventurism. I think there, for once, he got things right: That's exactly it. One must not negate the basic tenet of all morality -- that individuals are themselves responsible for their actions. And the triggers seem to be individual too. Upbringing certainly plays a major role there, imparting a misconceived sense of mission which pushes people towards "actions." Added to that there is a herd mentality once you have become integrated in a group and everyone continues to drive everyone else on and on into a forced situation. There's the type of person who believes his action will make mankind listen to him and turn him into a historic figure. Then there's the type who simply feels attracted to violence. And yes, I think glamour plays a role too."

"Rushdie: Yes. Terror is glamour -- not only, but also. I am firmly convinced that there's something like a fascination with death among suicide bombers. Many are influenced by the misdirected image of a kind of magic that is inherent in these insane acts. The suicide bomber's imagination leads him to believe in a brilliant act of heroism, when in fact he is simply blowing himself up pointlessly and taking other peoples lives. There's one thing you mustn't forget here: the victims terrorized by radical Muslims are mostly other Muslims."

"Rushdie: ... and there are others like al-Qaida which have taken up the cause of destroying the West and our entire way of life. This form of terrorism wraps itself up in the wrongs of this world in order to conceal its true motives -- an attack on everything that ought to be sacred to us. It is not possible to discuss things with Osama bin Laden and his successors. You cannot conclude a peace treaty with them. They have to be fought with every available means."

"Rushdie: Fundamentalists of all faiths are the fundamental evil of our time. Almost all my friends are atheists -- I don't feel as though I'm an exception. If you take a look at history, you will find that the understanding of what is good and evil has always existed before the individual religions. The religions were only invented by people afterwards, in order to express this idea. I for one don't need a supreme "sacred" arbiter in order to be a moral being."

"Rushdie: Oh yes. Over the past few years I've been the president of PEN in New York, the chairman of the American writers' association. Again and again, we've had to deal with these far-reaching attacks on civil liberties. And most complaints have been justified, because it wasn't even apparent in what way arrests and surveillance operations were connected with anti-terrorism. And I know what I'm talking about: From my own history of being threatened, I have indeed developed a sympathy for intelligence activities, my protectors enjoy my greatest respect.

SPIEGEL: So are Bush and Blair going too far?

Rushdie: This is the problem with politicians who by nature tend towards being authoritarian: When they are given the chance, they go too far. We have to watch out there. I find it deeply depressing that the Anglo-American politics and Arab politics are currently corroborating each other -- that is: their worst prejudices. Take a look at Iraq, at Lebanon. There is no just side in either conflict. But at the same time we need moral clarity, something I have often missed recently in many liberally minded people -- and I myself am liberal. We need clarity about what is right and wrong, the willingness to defend our values with clear words and to actually call the guilty persons guilty."

"Rushdie: I've always been strictly against blasphemy laws, which are supposed to protect religions against alleged defamation. It's perfectly all right for Muslims to enjoy religious freedom like everyone else in a free society. It's perfectly all right for them to protest against discrimination, whenever and wherever they are faced with it. And undoubtedly there are often reflexive reactions in the West, which lead to premature, anti-Islamic suspicions. What is not at all in order, on the other hand, is for Islamic leaders in our countries to demand that their faith be protected against criticism, disrespect, ridicule and disparagement. Even malicious criticism, even insulting caricatures -- these are part of our freedom of speech, of pluralism, of our basic values, which they have got to bow down to if they want to live with us."

Gott viðtal sem finna má hér. Allar feitletranir eru gerðar af höfundi þessa blogs.

P.S. bæti hér við hlekk á grein sem birtist nýlega á vef Times, en þar er einnig fjallað um nútíma hryðjuverk.

Að neyða hring á fingur

Ég verð ábyggilega seint talinn "feministi" í þeim skilningi orðsins sem virðist hvað algengastur í dag, en samt sem áður tel ég mig jafnréttisinna og er ákafur fylgismaður réttinda einstaklingum til handa.  Því þótti mér dálítið sláandi að lesa dálk á vef Times, en þar er fjallað um nauðungarhjónabönd í Bretlandi.  Sömuleiðis er að finna frétt á vef blaðsins um sama málefni.

 Grípum fyrst niður í dálknum sem er skrifaður af Camillu Cavendish:

"WHERE HAVE ALL the feminists gone? Equality campaigners seem terribly busy wrangling over flexible working and who puts the rubbish out.

Few have much to say about women who have been transplanted into this country from cultures that regard them not as individuals but as possessions. Few have commented on 12-year-old Molly Campbell, abducted on Friday from the Hebrides and smuggled to Pakistan. Her mother’s decision to shelter in one of the most remote parts of the British Isles proved to be no protection against a father who was determined to assert his power, and possibly to force her into marriage. No doubt this little girl is torn by conflicting loyalties. Yet her abduction raises fundamental issues of equality that cannot be swept under the carpet to protect “cultural sensitivities”. "

"There is a new front in the fight for women’s freedom. It is in Bradford and in East London, where 90 per cent of the forced marriage cases handled by the Foreign Office originate. A team of diplomats at the British Embassy in Islamabad rescued 105 women last year. Yet the numbers in trouble are far higher. The charity Reunite, which helps victims of child abduction, dealt with 307 new cases involving 454 children last year, up by a fifth from the year before. Pakistani cases are increasing the most. A Foreign Office report on Bradford and Tower Hamlets points to the increasing numbers of young Pakistanis and Bangladeshis reaching marriageable age in this country. The mean age of the UK population is 40; the Pakistani community’s is 26 and the Bangladeshi community’s is 24.

Few are prepared to fight on this new front. There is the MP Ann Cryer and the actress Meera Syal; there are those who run refuges and helplines, such as the Southall Black Sisters and the Karma Nirvana Asian Women’s Project; and a few, lone, courageous individuals who have taken matters into their own hands. In the past year I have come across three teachers who have helped teenage pupils to escape from actual or threatened violence at home. Each seems to have been the only person the girls could confide in. Each has found the girl a refuge and tried to help her to start a new life. "

"The Government dropped plans to make forced marriage illegal in June, after the Muslim Council of Britain cautioned that it could be “another way to stigmatise our communities”, although it is not a practice supported by Islam or any other world religion. In July a Metropolitan Police commander reported that the decision not to make forced marriage a criminal offence had been taken by some community groups to mean that “it must be all right”.

Forcing defenceless women into marriage is not all right. It is rape, for a start. But nor is it the only problem faced by women who live closeted by male relatives and vulnerable to abuse. Government “outreach” does not extend to women who are illiterate and cannot read leaflets printed in Urdu. Some women cannot go to English language classes because their husbands, fathers, brothers will not give permission. I know of one Sure Start centre that has coaxed deprived Bangladeshi women to attend by presenting itself as a health centre. Their menfolk were reluctant to let them near a door marked “education”, but could be persuaded to let them seek health advice for their precious sons. "

"The cultural questions are complex. But the feminist cause is clear. Every woman should have the right to move freely. No woman should suffer violence. Every woman should be able to say “no”. This is every bit as important as Edwardian emancipation, a cause for which some — remember? — gave their very lives."

Dálkinn í heild má lesa hér.

Ég sé svo sem ekki nauðsyn þess að ákalla feminista sérstaklega, þetta er að sjálfsögðu mál sem allir þeir sem hlynntir eru almennum mannréttindum hljóta að berjast gegn og vekja athygli á, jafnt feministar sem aðrir.  En er búið að ofnota "rasistastimpilinn" svo, að það þykir ekki "PC" að vekja athygli á þessu?  Það sem meira er, hér er verið að ræða um Bretland, það er ekki verið að tala um vandamálið í Pakistan, Bangladesh eða öðrum þeim ríkjum sem svipað er ástatt um.

Í frétt Times má lesa þetta:

"AUGUST and September are the peak months for organisations working with the victims of forced marriage.

As the school holidays draw to a close, many young Britons who were taken for what they believed to be family holidays in Pakistan and India are realising that their trip had an altogether different purpose.

“Many children will be missing from class when school starts next week. They will have been married overseas. Others will be back, but they will be married,” said Jasvinder Sanghera, of the Karma Nirvana Asian Women’s Project in Derby, which deals with an average of seven new cases of forced marriage a week.

Forced marriage is not a religious or cultural issue — no leading world religion supports it. It is an issue of basic human rights. Its victims, some as young as 12 or 13, are compelled to marry when they do not want to. The practice frequently involves abduction, threats to kill, assault, false imprisonment, emotional blackmail, rape and child abuse. And all at the hands of close family members. "

"Most cases in Britain involve Muslim families, although the practice is not restricted to one religious or ethnic group. At least a third of known victims are under 16 and about 15 per cent are male.

Those who refuse to take part are often threatened with death, and it is acknowledged that many of the 12 so-called honour killings of young women in Britain every year are linked to the practice.

Those who endure it, or escape, do not always fare much better: the suicide rates among young Asian women in the UK are three times the national average. "

 

Eimskip, SS og nú Morgunblaðið?

Líklega þekkja flestir sögur af útlendingum sem undrast hakakrossinn á gamla Eimskipafélagshúsinu, þykir skrýtið að SS skuli vera auglýst víða og að "heitir hundar" beri þetta nafn. 

Allt á þetta sér þó eðlilegar skýringar, enda um gömul firmatákn að ræða, og í raun alger óþarfi að hætta að nota gömul tákn eins og hakakrossinn, þó að nazistar hafi komið óorði á hann og reyndar fleiri hluti, s.s. rúnir.  Forn norræn menning varð allt að því að skammaryrði mörg ár á eftir seinni heimstyrjöldinni.

En þegar ég var að lesa mbl.is, sem oftar, hálf brá mér þegar ég þóttist þekkja kunnuglegan fána á "flashbanner" sem þarna hreyfðist "út á kantinum".  Mér brá nógu mikið til þess að ég beið þess að hann "færi hringinn" og sama myndin birtist aftur.

Vissulega vakti þetta athygli mína, og það eiga auglýsingar vissulega að gera, en persónulega finnst mér þetta minna um of á fána nazista til að virðingarverður fjölmiðill sem Morgunblaðið vilji að auglýsingar sínar beri þetta útlit.

En það er bara mín skoðun.

Ef þig langar til að lifa undir sharia lögum, flyttu þá til Saudi!!

Mig langar til að vekja athygli á góðri grein sem ég var að lesa á TheTimesOnline .  Greinin er skrifuð af Shahid Malik, þingmanni fyrir breska Verkamannaflokkinn. Umræðuefnið er staða múslima í Bretlandi og þá sérstaklega núna stuttu eftir viðamiklar handtökur á meintum hryðjuverkamönnum.  Shahid Malik er múslimi og sendir í greininni trúbræðrum sínum nokkuð harkalega tóninn.

Hér eru nokkur dæmi úr greininni:

"Last Tuesday, after a 90-minute meeting with John Prescott, the deputy prime minister, to discuss the challenges of extremism and foreign policy, I emerged and was immediately asked by the media whether I agreed that what British Muslims needed were Islamic holidays and sharia (Islamic law). I thought I had walked into some parallel universe.

Sadly this was not a joke. These issues had apparently formed part of the discussion the day before between Prescott, Ruth Kelly, the communities minister, and a selection of “Muslim leaders”. I realised then that it wasn’t me and the media who were living in a parallel universe — although certain “Muslim leaders” might well be."

"Maybe they thought that the entire plot and threat were the “mother of all smokescreens”, a bid to divert our attention from the killing fields of Lebanon. Or maybe it was another symptom of that epidemic that is afflicting far too many Muslims: denial. Out of touch with reality, frightened to propose any real solutions for fear of “selling out”, but always keen to exact a concession — a sad but too often true caricature of some so-called Muslim leaders.

Other members of the Muslim community I am sure would have cringed as I did when listening to Dr Syed Aziz Pasha, secretary-general of the Union of Muslim Organisations of the UK and Ireland, who explained his demand for sharia and more holidays: “If you give us religious rights we will be in a better position to convince young people that they are being treated equally along with other citizens.” He has done much good work over the years but this is clearly not one of his better moments."

"As I have repeatedly said, in this world of indiscriminate terrorist bombings, where Muslims are just as likely to be the victims of terrorism as other British and US citizens, we Muslims have an equal stake in fighting extremism. Hundreds of Muslims died on 9/11 and 7/7. But more importantly, given that these acts are carried out in the name of our religion — Islam — we have a greater responsibility not merely to condemn but to confront the extremists. In addition to being the targets of terrorism, Muslims will inevitably be the targets of any backlash."

"So too, unfortunately, did the comments of some of the “Muslim leaders” who demanded sharia for British Muslims rather than the existing legal system. The call for special public holidays for Muslims was unnecessary, impracticable and divisive. Most employers already allow their staff to take such days out of their annual leave. And what about special holidays for Sikhs, Hindus, Jews? If we amended our laws to accommodate all such requests, then all the king’s horses and all the king’s men wouldn’t be able to put our workplaces and communities back together again."

"In Britain there are no laws that force Muslims to do something against sharia and Muslims enjoy the freedom to worship and follow their religion, as do all other faiths. Compare Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, a sharia regime where women are forbidden to drive; or Turkey, a secular country where women are forbidden to wear the hijab; or Tunisia, where civil servants are forbidden to wear a beard.

I believe that as a Muslim there is no better place to live than Britain. That doesn’t mean that all in the garden is rosy; often Islamophobia is palpable. But my message is: whether you are white, Asian, black, Muslim, Christian or Jew, if you don’t like where you’re living you have two choices: either you live elsewhere, or you engage in the political process, attempt to create change and ultimately respect the will of the majority.

When Lord Ahmed, the Muslim Labour peer, heard my comments — I said essentially that if Muslims wanted sharia they should go and live somewhere where they have it — he accused me of doing the BNP’s work. He is entitled to his opinion. However, a little honesty, like mine, in this whole debate might just restore trust in politicians and ease the population’s anxieties."

Since I made my remarks my office has been overwhelmed with support. I also know that some Muslims feel uncomfortable, not necessarily because they disagree but because they feel targeted. But what I want to say to my fellow British Muslims is that in this country we enjoy freedoms, rights and privileges of which Muslims elsewhere can only dream. We should appreciate that fact and have the confidence to fulfil the obligations and responsibilities as part of our contract with our country and as dictated by sharia law."

Allar feitletranir eru höfundar þessa blogs.

Það gerir þessa grein örlítið merkilegri en ella að það er múslimi sem skrifar.  Ekki er ótrúlegt að ef einhver annarar trúar hefði skrifað slíka grein, hefði "rasistastimpillinn" fljótt komið á loft hjá mörgum. 

En það er þarft að hugleiða hvað breskir (og aðrir) múslimar vilja.  Hvers óska þeir af þeim þjóðfélögum sem þeir búa í?  Hvernig á það að geta gengið að sumir þegnar ríkis búi við önnur lög? 

Einn af mínum uppáhaldsdálkahöfundum Margaret Wente skrifaði dálk fyrir nokkrum dögum sem snertir þetta sama málefni.  Þar sagði hún meðal annars: 

"And now the battle over passenger profiling rages anew.

After last week, the French, Dutch and German authorities all want much more of it. So do the British public — 55 per cent, according to a recent survey. “I'm a white, 62-year-old, 6-foot-4-inch suit-wearing ex-cop,” wrote Lord Stevens, London's influential former police chief. “I fly often, but do I really fit the profile of a suicide bomber? Does the young mum with three tots? The gay couple, the rugby team, the middle-aged businessman? No. But they are all getting exactly the same amount [of security checks] and devouring huge resources for no logical reason whatsoever.”

Predictably, his comments created a firestorm. The Muslim Council of Britain warned that any profiling — even behaviour profiling — would inevitably lead to discrimination and would alienate Britain's Muslims even more. One of Britain's most senior Muslim police officers warned that profiling would create a whole new offence of “travelling whilst Asian.”

In North America, profiling is anathema (although it's quietly practised in major airports, where security personnel are on the lookout for twitchy-looking travellers)."

"In Britain, cynicism about the new measures abounds, because in spite of last year's subway bombings, a lot of people think there was no airline plot. Many Muslims believe it was cooked up by the authorities to justify the war on Islam. (Friends and neighbours of the alleged plotters invariably describe them as quiet young men who couldn't possibly be guilty of such a thing.)

Cynicism is also prevalent in the salons of the left, who think the Bush-Blair axis of evil wants to deliberately distract us from its foreign-policy fiascos. Even some Canadians think the plot is a mirage. “Could it be that this whole thing was an orchestrated overreaction to steer public attention away from the difficulties facing the Bush-Tony Blair fight on terror?” wrote our own Sheila Copps last week.

The plot (or police conspiracy, or bungled roundup of the innocents) has lent urgency to the now familiar question: What do Muslims want? According to the sort of people who write in The Independent, they want better jobs and houses (although the jobs and houses of this group seem pretty good), an end to

Britain's evil foreign policy, and a culture with a higher moral tone in which Britons stop behaving like promiscuous drunken yobbos.

Unfortunately, a significant number of Muslims also believe that violence is acceptable if they don't get what they want. In one recent opinion poll, almost a quarter of British Muslims said the 7/7 bombings could be justified because of the government's support for the war on terror. Among those under 24, the figure was almost twice as high. A couple of weeks ago, all the leading Muslim groups published an open letter in the papers charging that the government's foreign policies were providing “ammunition to extremists.” This statement is clearly true. But it's not clear what foreign policies they want. Retreat from Afghanistan? Support for Hezbollah? Support for the extinction of Israel? Different takes on reality are a bit of a problem too.

Around half of British Muslims believe Sept. 11 was the result of an American-Israeli conspiracy. And a third say they would rather live under sharia law in the U.K. than British law. Among them is Syed Aziz Pasha, secretary-general of the Union of Muslim Organizations of the U.K. and Ireland. “If you give us religious rights, we will be in a better position to convince [Muslim] young people that they are being treated equally along with other citizens,” he said this week.

Mr. Pasha is described as a moderate. But there are also a few British Muslims — around 10 per cent — who won't be happy until everyone lives under sharia law. It's tough to imagine what kind of outreach will work for them."

Aftur eru allar feitleitranir gerðar af höfundi þessa blogs.

Greinina í heild má finna hér.

Skilaréttur til fyrirmyndar

Það verður að segjast eins og er að mér þykir margt skemmtilegra en að versla.  Helst er að það kitli aðeins að kaupa einhver ný tæki og "gadgets", en að öllu jöfnu þykir mér ekki eftirsóknarvert að þvælast í verslunum, allra síst þar sem afgreiðslufólk er sífellt að bjóða fram aðstoð sína, spyrja hvernig mér líði (how are you today?) og þar fram eftir götunum.

Eitt verð ég þó að minnast á sem gerir það heldur betra en ella að versla hér í Kanada, en það er hvað kaupmenn eru liðlegir við að taka vörur sínar til baka, og það jafnvel þó að þær hafi verið notaðar örlítið.  Þetta er atriði sem íslenskir starfsbræður þeirra mættu athuga.

Ég keypti mér til dæmis rakaeyði fyrir u.þ.b. 10 dögum síðan.  Það var þessi hér.  Hann keypti ég í Rona.  Hann virkaði ágætlega, en þó var hann fullmikið í gangi að mínu mati, varla slökkti á sér.  Síðan rakst ég á þennan hér í Costco, bæði afkastmeiri og í þokkbót örlítið ódýrari.

Ég pakkaði þeim "gamla" saman, í upprunalega kassann, og skundaði í í Rona, sagðist hafa keypt þennan rakaeyði fyrir u.þ.b. 10 dögum, en ég þyrfti afkastameir og vildi skila þessum.  Sýndi kvittunina og ekkert mál, rétti yfir kreditkortið mitt (sem ég hafði borgað með) og þeir bakfærðu gripinn.  Keyrði yfir í Costco og keypti hinn, sem nú malar eins og köttur hér í kjallaranum.

Sömu sögu er að segja af reykskynjurum sem ég keypti í Home Depot.  Fyrir mistök þá keypti ég reykskynjara sem þurfti að beintengja í rafmagn, og það sem verra var, ég klippti plastið af öðrum þeirra.  Síðan fór ég að skila, tók þann sem var í ónýtu umbúðunum með og spurði hvort að þeir myndu taka hann til baka, t.d. fyrir hálfvirði?  Táningsstrákurinn sem var að vinna þarna spurði hvort að allir hlutirnir væru með og þegar ég gaf jákvætt svar við því, svaraði hann ekkert mál og endurgreiddi mér fullt verð.

Það sem meira er, ef að viðskiptavinurinn framvísar kvittun, er alltaf greitt til baka "í sama". Ef þú hefur greitt með korti er bakfærrt, ef þú hefur greitt með peningum færðu peninga til baka.  Ef þú hins vegar hefur ekki kvittun, þá gefa þeir þér kreditnótu sem gildir aðeins í viðkomandi verslun.

En þetta fyrirkomulag kann ég vel að meta, og það sem meira er, ég held að það skili sér í viðskiptavild, ég er t.d. óhræddari við að kaupa hlutina, þar sem ég veit að ég get skilað þeim.

 

Fórnarlömb fórnarlambanna

Á vef spiegel má oft finna athygliverðar greinar.  Að þessu sinni langar mig að vekja athygli á grein sem fjallar um sýningu tileinkaða þeim þjóðverjum sem voru gerðir brottrækir af heimilum sínum í eftirmála síðustu heimstyrjaldar, þegar landamæri voru dregin að nýju.

Þessi sýning hefur vakið blendin viðbrögð, og segja margir að hún sé tilraun til að gera þjóðverja að fórnarlömbum, sem sé ekki rétt, þeir hafi verið árásaraðilinn.

En þetta er þó varla svona einfalt, eða hvað?  Má ekki að sumu leiti segja að þjóðverjar hafi verið fórnarlömb nazismans, fengið jafn illa meðferð af þeirra hendi og margir aðrir?  Að sama skapi voru íbúar Sovétríkjanna fórnarlömb kommúnismans og það sama má segja um kínverja og t.d. íbúa Kampútseu.

Hinu verður þó ekki á móti mælt að vissulega voru það fleiri þjóðverjar en þeir sem voru nazistar sem bera ábyrgð á hörmungunum, en samverkamenn þeirra mátti líka finna á meðal flestra þeirra þjóða sem þeir hernumdu.  Þess vegna má segja að  það er aldrei neitt eins einfalt og það sýnist.

En skoðum nokkur sýnishorn úr greininni:

"But the exhibition -- called "Forced Paths: Flight and Expulsion in 20th Century Europe" -- also has a large section on the post-World War II expulsion of some 12 to 14 million Germans from Poland and other Eastern European countries. In other words, say critics, the exhibition seeks to portray Germans as victims of World War II and to rewrite history. Plus, they point out, there's already an exhibition dedicated to the German expellees across the street in the German History Museum."

"The ongoing debate is not primarily about the historical facts. When the Soviets under Stalin agreed with the Western Allies to move the Polish border west to the Oder and Neisse rivers, millions of Germans who had long lived in areas now belonging to Poland were forced to leave. As many as 2 million died on the trek westwards and those who arrived in Germany had to live for years in temporary shelters and even in former concentration camps due to post-war housing shortages."

"And the exhibition itself -- which will run through October 29 -- is rather modest. The fate of the German expellees is presented along with that of eight other groups that were victims of forced resettlement in 20th century Europe. The result is a lot of text, a few items on display -- the centerpiece being the bell from the ship Wilhelm Gustloff which sank in January 1945 killing 9,343 Germans fleeing Poland -- and not a lot of clarity. If anything, it seems as though Steinbach's group is trying to keep the issue alive without stepping on any toes."

"But Eastern European fears are not so easily quelled. The Polish papers on Thursday ramped up their anti-German rhetoric to mark the exhibition's opening. "The biggest difference (between Germany and Poland) in their approach to history," writes the weekly Wprost, "is that in Poland and in other countries, one thinks primarily about those things the Germans would rather forget.""

Nú verður það að teljast líklegt að á meðal þeirra sem þurftu að yfirgefa heimili sín hafi verið bæði dyggir stuðningsmenn nazista og svo þeir sem hefur verið lítið um þá gefið.  Um þá síðari má því ef til vill segja að þeir hafi verið fórnarlömb fórnarlambanna.

En sagan geymir margt óréttlætið og það er oft erfitt að finna lausnir sem að hentar öllum og allir halda sínu.  Málamiðlanir og samningar fela það því miður oft í sér að ekki eingöngu gefi allir eitthvað eftir, heldur verður hlutur þeirra sem ekki sitja við borðið frekar rýr.

Eru þeir ekki alltaf...... ?

Eingöngu af því að ég er í einhverju hálfgerðu "fimmaura brandara" skapi, og er búinn að vera það í það minnsta tvo sólarhringa, þá ræð ég ekki við mig.

Eru innipúkar ekki alltaf feitir?

 Annars hljómar þetta sem hin ágætasta skemmtun, alla vegna eru Hjálmar ljúfir áheyrnar.  "Ballantines" er einnig hið ljúfasta bæði innvortis sem útvortis, nokkuð viss um að það hljómar vel  "læf" hjá Baggalút.

Feitur Innipúki í Reykjavík

Hinn kanadíski "kóngur" Wikipedia

Flestir þeir sem þvælast um netið ættu að kannast við alfræðiorðasíðuna www.wikipedia.org .  Þar er allt unnið í sjálfboðavinnu (í það minnsta eftir minni bestu vitneskju).

Á vefsíðu Globe and Mail í dag er grein/viðtal við ungan kanadamann sem hefur helgað síðunni umtalsvert af kröftum sínum undanfarin ár.

Viðtalið má finna hér.

Datt í hug að þeir sem nota þessar síður (ég geri það töluvert) hefðu gaman af því að sjá eitthvað til fólksins á bakvið þær.

Hver skyldi nú annars hafa ritað þar inn mest um íslensk málefni?  Veit það einhver?

Hinn dægilegasti dagur - Bændamarkaður - mennonitar - "Ferskjur og rjómi"

Dagur sá er nú er að kveldi kominn hefur verið nokkuð dægilegur.  Það rigndi, þannig að þar sem fjölskyldan hafði áætlað að fara til hindberjatínslu, var planinu breytt og í staðinn haldið til Kitchener, eins og nágrannaborgunum. 

Upphaflega hét Kitchener,  Berlin, ef eitthvað má marka það sem mér hefur verið sagt, en það þótti víst ekki tilhlýðilegt á árum fyrri heimstyrjaldar og því var nafninu breytt.

Í Kitchener ræktum við smá erindi fyrir tengdapabba, fórum í búðir og síðast en ekki síst á "bændamarkað", "Farmers Market", í St. Jacobs, litlu þorpi þar rétt hjá.  Þetta var hin fróðlegasti markaður.  Bæði var þar uppboð á lifandi nautgripum, uppboðshaldari mikill listamaður, þannig að ég skildi ekki orð af því sem hann sagði, og svo var líka hægt að kaupa í matinn, kjöt, grænmeti, ávexti og auðvitað maís. 

Það sem vekur athygli á markaðnum er hvað hátt hlutfall mennonita er þar, bæði sem gestir og sölufólk.  Það var ekki laust við að mér finndist hálf skringilegt að sjá mennonitana, alla klædda upp á gamla mátann, innan um "típískar" kanadískar unglingsstúlkir, "með naflann úti og alles", en allir virtust sáttir við lífið og tilveruna.

Við keyptum ekki mikið, keyptum þó ferskjur, pylsur, "ferskju og rjóma" maís (peaches and cream) og smá heimatilbúið sælgæti.

Síðan var meiningin að bruna heim, en það fór þó öðru vísi en ætlað var, sátum föst á hraðbrautinni í að verða 2. tíma.  Skapið var þó það gott, að ég hafði þetta af, þó að heldur væri farið að síga á ógæfuhliðina undir það síðasta.

Þegar heim var komið voru soðnir maísstönglar, pylsur hitaðar í ofninum, opnaður einn kaldur og notið lífsins.

Seinnipart kvöldsins eyddi ég svo við þá miður skemmtilegu iðja að "dýrka" upp hurðina að skrifstofunni (þar sem tölvan okkar er), en foringinn hafði læst henni og lokað á eftir sér.  Enginn lykill fylgdi hurðinni, en nú verður að drífa í því að skipta, ekki seinna en á morgun.

Mýtubrjótar

Einn af þeim sjónvarpsþáttum sem ég horfi stundum á þegar sófinn verður athvarf letilífs er "Mythbusters".  Það má stundum hafa virkilega gaman af þeim félögum, og uppátækin geta verið ansi skrautleg.

Það ættu líka allir að kannast við að hafa fengið allra handa "flökkusagnir" sendar í tölvupósti, jafnvel með þeim fyrirmælum að senda þær til allra vina sinna, sem við gerum jú stundum.

En á heimasíðu þáttarins má finna ýmis próf, þar sem lesendur geta spreytt sig á því hvernig þeim gengur að greina rétt frá röngu.

En prófin eru hér.

En margar þessar flökkusögur eru með eindæmum lífseigar. En í einu prófanna má til dæmis finna þessa spurningu:

8)  Eating chocolate causes acne breakouts.

	a)	True
	b)	False

Og svarið er:  The right answer is false. Contrary to popular belief, there is no link between eating chocolate and acne breakouts. Several scientific studies have disproved this common myth.

Þar hafið þið það, og eru þeir sem hafa verið að baktala súkkulaði vinsamlegast beðnir að hætta því.

Önnur síða sem getur verið gaman að heimsækja, ef viðkomandi hefur gaman af flökkusögnum er www.snopes.com   Þar er til dæmis sérstakur flokkur sem heitir "Cokelore".

Margir ættu að kannast við margar flökkusagnirnar þar, t.d.: 

A tooth left in a glass of Coca-Cola will dissolve overnight.

Nú eða þessar:

1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the truck to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.

2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of coke and it will be gone in two days.

3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl . . . Let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean.

4. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.

5. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a crumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.

6. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.

7. To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

8. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan;rap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before the ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.

9. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, And run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.

FYI:

1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It's pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4 days.

2. To carry Coca Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use the Hazardous material place cards reserved for Highly Corrosive materials.

3. The distributors of coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years! Drink up! No joke. Think what coke and other soft drinks do to your teeth on a daily basis. A tooth will dissolve in a cup of coke in 24-48 hours.

Svörin má svo finna hér.

En það breytir því ekki að það má hafa gaman af mörgum þessara flökkusagna, en það ber að varast að taka þær of hátíðlega.