http://dltq.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/25945
My question here is: How can we facilitate global learning through computers? How can we learn from each other? How can we move from potential to reality, and how can we move towards some of those goals that WSIS laid out in 2003 in Geneva?

One of my main interests lies in how we can learn by sharing on-line experiences. Using modern technology and a distributed work-load, we can do wonders. I will get back to this asap.

I am mostly writing on my website www.dltq.org these days, but I will try to write here, and I hope to be able to announce a bit more useful information next time I update this space.

Best greetings to all from Norway!]]> Fri, 08 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/25945 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/21697 vloggercon, very much occupied with party political stuff here in Norway, I was interviewed shortly by The World a few days ago, and you can listen to the piece where I contributed here, and the info page for that day's programme is here. I have my blog here, i videolog here, and I try to get some more studies done this spring.

I miss my days hanging out here in TIG, but life goes on. I will check out the page now and then though, and I have not sunk into the ground. Check up my blog whenever you want, or email me, or .. well.

Take care and have fun, all! :)

oh, and if you live in new york, send me an e-mail and we might meet up?

Raymond aka dltq]]> Thu, 13 Jan 2005 21:40:00 EST http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/21697 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/21117 http://dltq.blogs.com

Topics range freely, but are concentrated around politics and technology.

Catch you all later, at some point! :)

Raymond / dltq]]> Tue, 14 Dec 2004 07:23:00 EST http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/21117 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/21033
The system seems too unflexible for my needs, and I am considering moving on to typepad or similar blogware.

I will write a comment to this page with the address to my new online ramblings.

Take care and good luck to you all.

Raymond/dltq
]]> Wed, 08 Dec 2004 01:10:00 EST http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/21033 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/21015 Feeddemon or similar software.
]]> Mon, 06 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/21015 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/20934 href="http://www.wikipedia.com">wikipedia and have had a few days
now of brainstorming how one could use wiki software to make
communication more effective within groups and organizations.

I am currently in the middle of testing out href="http://www.socialtext.com">socialtext.com for the Balkan
cooperation project with members from Norway, Denmark, The
Netherlands, Serbia and Bosnia. (Or "Serbia Montenegro" and "Bosnia
Herzegovina" if you insist :P). One of my main conclusions is that
within our party (Liberal Youths here in Norway) we are indeed using
the internet and ICT as if we were still living in 1997. We have
archaic methods of using e-mail, and alternative and new ways of
handling information are not very well-known within the organization.

Even tho I am trying to stay ahead of the game and get to know more
efficient ways of handling information as well as other issues like
calling abroad using Skype instead of our regular office phone (much
cheaper to call Bosnia with Skype, or other voip solutions), I still
feel that there is so much I do not know.

So basically my question is: How do you handle information within your
organization? Have you found better ways of working in a project, and
would you like to share some of the experiences with the rest of us?

I would be very grateful for any input!
]]> Wed, 01 Dec 2004 20:13:00 EST http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/20934 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/20842 testing whether this works well. If it does, it will mean that I will
be updating a lot more often here.

Since last time I updated I have had another trip to the Balkans, this
time Serbia as well as Bosnia Herzegovina. I was attending a seminar
on Education and Democracy. More information about that you can read
here: http://www.mladiliberali.org/seminar_obraz_i_demo.htm

This seminar is a part of a cooperation between liberal youth
organizations in Norway, Serbia and Bosnia.

This was my second time in Serbia, and my first time in Bosnia. I have
absolutely fallen in love with Serbia. Well, of course it is not
heaven on earth, but I really feel a lot of empathy for the people
there, and I feel a certain sense of kinship with the country. I don't
know why... It was my first time in Bosnia. I mainly spent my time in
Sarajevo or just outside it, on the olympic mountain of Bjelasnica
just outside Sarajevo. The city is an awesome place, even tho - and
this is bizarre to think about - the city was under siege just 10
years ago...

I have some pictures from my trip, I will put them online soon.

***

Otherwise, I am pretty busy with studies (just finished my last exams
for this term this week), and with political life. 2005 is election
year in Norway, and I am working with the Liberal Youths, preparing
for it, schooling our members in different ways. It takes a lot of
time..

Ok, will update more later.

Raymond

--
Raymond M. Kristiansen
http://bergen.uv.no
]]> Sat, 27 Nov 2004 21:12:00 EST http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/20842 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/19853 murdered by those who had kidnapped him.

This is my opinion:

Terrorism will go on. The "War against Terrorism" will NOT be won by - to quote Kerry - more of the same.

I think this whole charade is very unfortunate, especially for all those victims of this cycle of violence. It will get worse, and no matter how many billion $ the USA spends on "homeland security", or on bombs for Iraq or Afghanistan, or for other measures - smart or less smart, the situation will not get better. That administration need a change of approach. Now. The Guantanamo prisoners is just One (well-known) example of an area that needs review by US politicians.
]]> Fri, 08 Oct 2004 15:10:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/19853 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/19772 commentary at Human Rights Watch.

I wondered what Exactly happened that helped spur Darfur to the attention of the global media... I guess it was a mixture of things.
]]> Sun, 03 Oct 2004 14:24:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/19772 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/19727 Francisco Badenes, the Brazilian police investigator. I met him here in Bergen where he held a big presentation at the Town Hall, by invitation from the university branch of Amnesty International. I met him a few days later and asked a few questions, and my article is based on his answers, as well as the general problem of corruption/organized crime in Brazil.. (I am NOT saying that Brazil is a bad country; those who have reason will know the difference)

On saturday, I just found out today, I will be attending a big debate on environmental issues. It will be my first Major public debate for years... And the first in party politics (as opposed to student politics, which I did earlier), so I am a bit nervous about that. The hall will be filled with pro-environment youngsters (from the Natur og Ungdom norwegian NGO), and I will be representing the Liberals, which is part of the Norwegian government coalition, as well as the city government here in Bergen, so I will have to "defend" our party against all kinds of bad things that our government is doing. mmmm, sexy!

Oh well, I will use the tactics of open-ness, and discussion, and tell the socialists and others that hey, one thing is the ideal world, another thing is the real world, and our work is to move the real world towards the ideal world. We can do Some miracles, but we cannot do them all.. I guess the worst thing I can do is to defend our party or the government without any decency, and just say that the environment groups are whining without stop, or something silly like that.

Oh, Russia will sign the Kyoto Treaty, so this means that Norway has to reduce its emissions as well, hmm. Good!! Now, lets look constructively at what we can do together, here in Norway and internationally for the environment.

bleh, I need to finish those articles now, or the new editor of the magazine will slaughter me and feed me to the pigs. ]]> Thu, 30 Sep 2004 23:28:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/19727 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/19726
So, what do I think?

Firstly, I think Kerry Somehow got better points during the debate, but that is as subjective as can be. I think Bush's central point, that being that Kerry is changing opinions on Iraq all the time, sort of fell to the ground. Bush claims that Kerry wavers and lacks the backbone to "stick to his opinion", while Kerry on his side claims that Bush might stick to his opinion, but it simply happened to be a Wrong opinion; a wrong decision; a wrong way to do things.

Now, I have (unfortunately) never been in the US myself, and I apologize for not knowing more about this great country on the earth. But I must say that I really hope, for the sake of the US, and for the world, that Bush is not re-elected. His unilateral stanze towards the Kyoto treaty, towards the International Criminal court, and other central issues, is dangerous. It might serve the interest of the US in short terms, but it certainly does not - after all. The world is not living in it's own world. The US is PART of this world, this globe.

Now, personal political ramblings aside, I think this first election debate was illuminating. Well, it could have been better, of course, but I think the debate was being run in a very good way, all credit due to Jim Lehrer. I hope that this debate is analysed, discussed in detail, and that we all can come to our own conclusions, and our own point of view on either of the two candidates. I will be looking for some scripted text version of the debate somewhere (I assume such a version will be produced), and I will be looking for Precise discussions about the debate and its many points and angles.

Here is my question to you: Who do you think did best in the debate, and why? ]]> Thu, 30 Sep 2004 22:37:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/19726 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/19678
The "With the Right to Know" campaign is closing in; it has lasted all September now as a national campaign here in Norway, and we have got quite a lot of media coverage. If we had more time, we would like to link with the international organisations against sweatshops and indecent labour conditions in countries around the world.

I am co-editing the next issue of "Internasjonalt Fokus" which will be out on oct 1st and be about norwegian development aid policy, and a critical view on how we organise our development aid which is being pumped into economies in primarily africa and asia. How do we "do" development aid? Could it be done more effectively? Or is it only a matter of giving moremoremore $$ in development aid?

An example of a more positive development aid system we use is the socalled microfinance where individuals get small loans so they can start their own little company. Of course, this does not help build schools or hospitals, and we need a series of perspectives to development. To sum up, the issue is complex and huge, and it is difficult to have any definite 'answers' to how to meet the challenges of the Millennium Development Goals.

I am leaving for the Balkans again in November, this time not to attend a seminar, but to arrange a seminar on education and the problem of brain drain on the Balkans. The seminar will take place in Sarajevo, and will have participants from both Bosnia, Serbia and Norway.

I am otherwise concerned about the following issues:

* Bush vs. Kerry. Bush will win, and will lower his shoulders and stop worrying about re-election issues, and will go even further on his own holy Crusade. But I am uncertain whether they will try to overthrow the Iranian regime, or what other measures they will do. I frankly have no clue what the hawks in that administration will do, besides helping their corporate friends.

* China.. How will the communist regime there develop? Will they allow slow democratization, or will they be so intent upon their maxim that democracy = chaos that they will do what they can to halt it? Oh, and the combination of Chinese government LOVING business and capitalism, and fighting very half-heartedly for freedom of speech and civil society, makes china a dangerous place. Just wait for 2005 when the Multi-Fibre Agreement is phased out and even more clothes-producing companies will move to China and a few other countries. 2008 will see the Olympics coming to China, and China will do what it can to build up a certain image for that, and i am worried about all the stories that do Not come to the surface in all of that. I read recently a norwegian-chinese business-man (born in China, moved to norway decades ago and now moving back to China to do business) saying that the communist regime is the best regime ever, because "there is not so much compromises and silly things". I was shocked by the fact that his point of view did not shock me.

Otherwise, the usual middle east crisis is terrible, and Darfur, and the Guantanamo Bay, and Iraq, and Russia's treatment of the Chechnian people, and all the terrorism attacks done by radicalized people.

I guess closing one's eyes to all that is out there is a very comforting thought, even tho I _know_ it wont help my conscience.]]> Tue, 28 Sep 2004 10:17:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/19678 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/18796
The so-called ethical consumer may often meet the wall when seeking information about the clothes in stores. Last thursday a friend of mine and myself went to 5 different stores here in Bergen, Norway. The stores were:

HM | Jack Jones | Diesel | Vincci | Miss Sixty

We went into the stores, looking at the tabs in different jeans, stating that they were "Made in Italy", "Made in Tunisia" or "Made in China".

In HM, the first store we went into, we first asked the girl working there "Do you know anything about how these pair of jeans were produced?" and she, almost annoyed, said "No". We then said "We come from Liberal Youths, and we have some further questions for you". She then immediately took up a phone and called her boss. The boss said something like "Don't answer them anything, I will be right there". The boss then came outside the store in the shopping centre and waved us to come out. It was obvious that she has been drilled on this situation. She had a brochure with her, dealing with HM CSR record and how good they are. We told her that we had already been at the homepages dealing with CSR, and that we rather wanted to see how much the employees knew about this. We asked her what kind of training they gave their employees. She told us that every year there is a meeting/course where the employees are given information about the CSR issues and were given the brochure that we now were getting.

We had beforehand read the reports from Norwegian customer rights groups who had tested different clothes stores, and HM was clearly the "winner" in their test, as in both being a part of the Global Compact, Amnesty Business Group, and so on. Furthermore, HM had been very helpful with giving information to the people behind the test.

Conclusion: HM is very afraid of negative PR, and they want to streamline their relations to media, interest groups and others. We were given the phone number to HM's Norwegian Marketing Manager if we had further questions. But, when we asked if we could ask the employees in the store questions, she said that they unfortunately could not allow that. OK.

We then went to a store selling Diesel clothes. When asked if he knew where the clothes are produced, the poor guy said "Norway". He simply had no clue, but at least he willingly answered our friendly questions.

We went to a store selling Miss Sixty jeans. Miss Sixty has lately been getting a Lot of negative media last months because their jeans only fit almost-anorectic girls.. We looked at the Miss Sixty jeans there and they all had the "Made in Italy" tab. Tabloid-like as we were, we went on looking untill we found clothes (brand: Killah) produced in Tunisia. We then went and asked the girl working there if she knew where the clothes are produced. She said "Italy". We informed her about the jeans made in Tunisia and asked her whether she knew anything about the production methods for these jeans. Anything general like whether the factory followed the ILO rules or if there was children involved in the production. She was very friendly about it and had to admit that "Sorry, I do not know this, but I really hope that it is all produced in decent conditions". Next on our list was Vincci, a store in Bergen selling Prada pants for 450 US$, Boss, Gant, and other more expensive brands. We found a pair of Hugo Boss jeans that had no tab with "Made in" in them. We went to the guy asking if he knew where they were produced. He looked at us almost like we were from another planet, then said "I guess Italy" and then went looking in the Boss catalogue. No information there. While he looked in the brochure we asked if he could guarantee that no children had worked on the making of these jeans, and he said "These jeans are made in Italy, and there are no children working there". He then had to ask another employee there about the production country of these jeans, and she said "Germany". Fair enough, Boss is after all a German brand. But we still did not get the confirmed information.

Jack Jones is a brand of Bestseller, a Danish clothes company selling several other brands. We went to two stores selling JJ. In one store the employee could not give us much information at all, in the other the guy we spoke with was the owner of that franchise and could give us some information, but not much in-depth. The jeans, however, he told us was made at a factory in Florence, Italy (which is one of my favorite cities, btw).

***
We are currently preparing a campaign here in Norway where we will send out similar teams of two young people who will go out and "bug" the employees in clothes stores about these issues.

We are not socialists, and we are far from anti-globalisation-activists. But we are of course concerned about the social responsability we have as consumers. The responsability not to support the military regime in Burma, or to support companies that is treating their workers with slave-like conditions. We rejoice in capitalism and the spirit of the business entrepeneur, but enriching ourselves by Exploiting others is no way to go.

I will write an update later about our progress here in Norway, and what we have achieved in letting consumers know that they have a Right To Know, also if they dont have the time to call X amount of marketing managers and read heavy CSR-reports written by PR-consultants..
]]> Sat, 14 Aug 2004 08:02:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/18796 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/17810 haven't written any update on TIG for a long time.

spent 5 days in Serbia in May for a seminar - my first international appearance since 2002
joined the 'Balkan Project Group' of the Norwegian Liberal Youths shortly after this trip, and have since then been studying about the Balkans and its history and culture.

studying chinese this summer, besides my working in a hospital (don't worry, im no doctor (i feel sick whenever I see blood), I just clean the place), and enjoying some sunny days here in rainy Bergen.

got to finish my photo series with pictures from Bergen and perhaps write an article about my thoughts on the City. I find cities fascinating. "More than the sum of its parts" - haha yes. The atmosphere of a city; Bergen, London, Salamanca, Paris, Florence, Hong Kong... Regional centres; city vs. country.

I will write another update later on. Sooner than in a few months :)]]> Fri, 02 Jul 2004 10:56:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/17810 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/16339

Is war ugly?

It sure is.

The scandal of Pfc. Lynndie England and other members of the coalition forces abusing Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison is quite interesting. Firstly, there is the dilemma of the US forces now. In a media war that the US is beginning to lose, images such as Lynndie England standing next to naked Iraqi detainees, smiling and smoking, is utterly devastating. It brings a lot of more fuel into the belief that the US is actually doing a lot of atrocities around the world - shadow-things hidden under terms such as "intense interrogation" or something like that. We have all heard the rumors of how the US has cooperation with prisons in countries where torture is more used and that certain prisoners are sent to these countries. I am not sure what to believe myself, but I think one thing is certain: The Red Cross should be allowed much more access to prisons in order to check on the conditions of the prisoners. It should be allowed to interview the prisoners without supervision.

Secondly, the case of Lynndie England is a good example of how war actually can bring out the very worst in a human. In general, been given authority over another person can very often lead to lax ethics in dealing with that person. The Stanford psychological experiment of the 1970's (?) is a good example of how power over other people's lives can destroy us.

What kind of view of the prisoners did Lynndie England have? Were they demonized, seen upon as less than human, dirty things that you can treat like dogs? Did she learn about respect for prisoners of war in army school?

Personally I have no illusions when it comes to coalition forces and their actions in Iraq. I think atrocities are being committed every single day. A few men in a truck is shot with a missile due to a misunderstanding. A journalist in Baghdad is shot because one mistakes his camera for a gun. War IS ugly. The rhetorics about "surgical bombing" is laugh-able. There IS no such thing as a war without innocent blood being spilled. Lots of innocent blood.

I hope that the iraqis can manage to look forward, while at the same time documenting what is being done wrong against them.

If the world can tackle facing images of 'hairy muslims' with death in their eyes that decided to pilot an airplane into a building, then we can also tackle images of 'innocent-looking' sweet 21-year old female US soldiers acting like true beasts towards other human beings.

"I just wanted to make sure you guys knew she was a human being," Hardy told reporters. [link]

Lynndie England is all too human. So are the terrorists that go on bombing planes, trains, mosques or embassies.

The moment we degrade the life of another person to less than human, we are moving in dangerous waters.]]> Sat, 08 May 2004 00:21:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/16339 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/16297
The panorama picture is here, and here is an example of how one shot (unzoomed) looks like. I don't know about you, but I find the panorama absolutely awesome. When I earlier heard about panorama pictures and saw them, I thought it was very difficult to 'stitch' the images together. Well, the software provided with the camera just did it automatically.

This coming weekend and beginning of next week we are expecting awesome weather here, so I guess I will use the chance to show why Bergen is one of the very best cities to be in when there is sunshine. (We got Very many rainy days throughout the year..)

cheers!]]> Thu, 06 May 2004 13:54:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/16297 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15746 [link] (bbc.co.uk)

Quotes:

"Israel doesn't want peace. Only through resistance and power will we recover our land" - Refugee in Gaza City

"Alongside him, Khalid Albatsh said: "This means more intifada, more unity. We need the UN to enforce its resolutions.""

What Israel, the US and the world need to do is to give a sense of hope to the hopeless. Even tho I guess it is tough to do so when you only view palestinians as a bunch of terrorists ...

Anger leads to desperation and desperation often leeds to violence. And thus, the bloody spiral will go on.]]> Sat, 17 Apr 2004 08:08:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15746 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15725
I read this quite good editorial in Aftenposten, a respectable, conservative Norwegian newspaper today. Here is a sketchy translation of the editorial.

Sharons Triumph

Hardly ever before has a prime minister been given greater political and practical victory in the White House than what prime minister Ariel Sharon did under his meeting with president George W. Bush wednesday.

Sharon got support for his Gaza-plan together with an american approval that important settlements on the occupied West Bank shall belong to Israel and a US-supported rejectal of the palestinian refugees right to return to the areas they were driven from.

All this prime minister Sharon got in exchange of a promise to give away something most Israelis do not want: The israeli settlements on the over-populated Gaza stripe - along with some unimportant settlements on the West Bank. And the best of it all seen with Sharons eyes: He got all this without having to negotiate with a single palestinian.

President George W. Bush used just a few sentences to what is a major turn-around in US middle-east politics. By accepting that Sharons government practically speaking annex occupied area and single-handedly define future borders the US accepts undisputed breaches on the international law and equally clear breaches on UN security council resolutions.

President Bush has acted unwise and at the same time sent a strong signal to the rest of the world that the US openly stands for a political set of double standards. The many americans who ask themselves why the country's credibility is so low in large parts of the world - not least in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East - have now received their answer.

USAs president also showed how little trustworthy he is for the cooperation partners of the super power. The most disappointed Tony Blair have reason to be. He was the one who insisted that the socalled Roadmap should be made public to show the world what weight there will be put on the Middlt East-process. Also to the UN, EU and Russia this is a punch in the face. They have put prestige on the Roadmap that Bush now has teared apart in the view of the whole world society.

To the palestinians this is both a provocation and a humiliation. Many of them will be put decades back to the time when the palestinians were neglected as a people with legitimate demands and rights. President Bush now shows a total lack of understanding for recent palestinian history and view of reality. Then it is time to remember that when the world society finally accepted the palestinians as an equal partner it was because it was impossible to neglect them if there is to be found a peaceful solution.

This is then how it is now. That is why it is dangerous to peace when president Bush has given green lights to prime minister Sharon for a plan that dictates a "solution" to the palestinians. Then it is of little help that the president is hailed as a great statesman by the israeli prime minister. Sharon has achieved his goals in his determined fight against all that resembles the establishing of a sustainable palestinian state.

Again the USA demonstrates a mixture of obstinacy and bad judgment. This time it is the palestinians that are to suffer. While the rest of us have to ascertain that again the Bush administration leads a policy that makes this world more dangerous."

I apologize for the bad translation, but I think most of you will get the point in this editorial. Here are a few links to English-languaged comments on this issue:

EU to hold new Middle East talks
Sharon's triumph is Blair's defeat
Analysis: New start in the Mid-East?
Blair backs Israeli pullout plan

---

What do you think of Sharon's new unilateral approach? Is it a good step forward, or will it just lead to more violence? ]]> Fri, 16 Apr 2004 11:32:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15725 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15677
Two fronts, how will the US handle this? What will happen with the handover of power to the Iraqis in June?

I am getting increasingly worried about this conflict.]]> Wed, 14 Apr 2004 07:22:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15677 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15454
I liked this idea a lot and am now wondering whether there are some others who would like to be a part of such a project.

It would require some equipment from the different journalist groups (mp3 recorder, computer, internet connection) as well as a server to host the streaming but I think it is quite doable if we got a dedicated team on this.

So, what do you think? Is it a good idea? Would you want to participate?]]> Tue, 06 Apr 2004 04:47:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15454 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15445 listed when my server is up. On the internet radio station (which can have a total of max 25 listeners (128kbit per second sound quality so you would probably need broadband internet connection)) I play mostly electronical music these days because I am in that mood :)

You are welcome to listen to the channel, either tuning in through shoutcast or directly here.

- Today, when every man with a few resources can be his own radio host, discussion forum manager or publisher..]]> Mon, 05 Apr 2004 16:34:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15445 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15421
I have for years had this secret fascination for subcultures and their special use of language. I guess it all started when I several as a young teenager read this book about posters from the 1920's or something. Graphic arts and how some of the different poster designers played jokes on each other. Subtle small jokes. Later on, as I ventured into different subcultures myself (RPG, M:TG, comic books, MUD, Computer Gaming (CyberAthletes), Student Democracy etc) I learned to appreciate just how strange some of these cultures are.

What makes a sub-culture? If you belong to a certain gang of people who watch Quentin Tarantino movies or Star Trek and build a fan culture around that, is that sub-culture? Or is the House DJ movement a sub-culture? Here in Bergen, in a typical high school you have divided a class into different groups. Like "there is the skaters, there the party-goers, there the read-it-alls who like to ask the teacher difficult questions, there the Hip Hoppers, there the death metal boys (with painted skulls on their T-shirts)" and so on. Within each group, there is a language of signs. A language - this I find for some reason utterly fascinating, and this update is an exploration of this topic.

Culture.

When I earlier used to travel around Europe and, for instance, visited students in the university city of Leuven in Belgium, I used to love going to their faculty clubs and bars and see the differences in style, expression, language and sometimes even personality.

Are the law students like X, the political science students like Y, and the business management students like Z? We DO see differences. When I went to Leuven, or Salamanca (Spain) or Bristol (UK) or Uppsala (Sweden) and saw students there I did notice the differences. Ok, sidetrack. My point is the question of identity. Do we identify ourselves with a certain group? If so, do we adopt a certain language of signs? Signs here in the widest possible definition.

Does this language also close certain parts of our mind? If we belong to the death metal rock group in high school and we see someone who headbangs while listening to some psy-trance or goa music, how does this enable/disable true communication between us? And here I have not even Begun to talk about social class, religion or ethnicity!

I have elsewhere written loads on political issues, so I will leave politics out of this for now.

Music.

In 1997, back when I was this teenager who wanted to be a writer, I started on a story about this stage magician by the name of Abraxas who once during a show suddenly disappeared. Out of the awkward silence that emerged once he did his disappearance trick and - - did not return there emerged an electronic music group called AXS. Out of the vacuum created by this real magician playing to be a mere show magician there came these magicians of music who were standing behind wheels of steel and like druids in eras gone were mixing their potions. They could describe the most beautiful lotus-flower with the sounds they produce. ... Anyway, arrrgh!

That story was yet another story half-finished one.

The DJ scene has, as well as the skaters, the grafitti artists (NOT the taggers) and the computer gamers been of a major interest to me. The culture builds a certain set of language. I remember going to concerts in 1998 or 1999 with groups such as Röyksopp (who later became stars with their Melody AM album), or seeing the way the grafitti artists used cultural codes as references in their art here in Bergen. And these last months when I have been going deeper into the world of electronic music I start to appreciate more and more this language that the music and the whole culture around it expresses. (No, I do Not mean glow-sticks or the drugs talk here haha!)

I must admit that I think the political world or the culture of the "socially responsible" people is in some ways too limited in the development of language. Often, the policitians instead use phony language or just saying one thing while they mean another. Youth NGOs do also need to develop their language, and I think TIG is overall a great tool for all of us in this respect. Let us develop this language further and also our tolerance to those with other languages, other sets of code.



]]> Sun, 04 Apr 2004 18:32:00 EDT http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15421 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15140
That spider could represent all kinds of things, my fears, my deepest fears, monster. Monster, monster. Monstrare - face - showing - terror - hurt - lies - deceit - war.

During the last weeks I have had this thinking about face. My English professor once said something about the link one usually makes between physical aesthetics and moral superiority. I.e. that if you are physically beautiful your soul is beautiful too.

When one wishes to represent something evil, it must always be twisted. Twisted horrible face, troll-like, goblin-like. To me, the spider is the ultimate evil. (well, not literally, but you know what I mean). It strikes some deep panic within me when I see one.

When I was a child, 5 years old or so I went to sleep at my grandmother's big house in my room and in the evening I noticed a big spot on the wall a bit higher from my head. I didnt think further about it, but then next morning after I had gone up and eaten breakfast my mother called me and said "look what I found in your bed!" and showed me a HUGE spider that she had killed. It was terrible-looking. Since then I have been so scared of spiders. :)

Now, where were I.. Oh yeah, aesthetics and ethics. Pictures... Pictures of Bush which makes him look like some monkey. Gorilla or whatever. Images of angry angry muslims with beard who stare at the camera like they are Lucifer himself. Evil intent blabla. Especially after September 11th these kind of images were spread around a lot. I noticed it very clearly, and I felt sick to my guts I remember.

Images are of crucial importance.. Images in media cannot be underestimated as tools of propaganda. We can only refer to the German images of the Jew in the 1930's... :(

Live and let live I say. Let not our fear terrorize us and make us twist our image of others. Let us not create even more images of others as twisted souls. Let us see the beauty in all.

- - - Even in scary little spiders. ]]> Wed, 24 Mar 2004 18:25:00 EST http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15140 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15113
I have been listening to this now for almost two hours, and now and then I just feel like banging my head in the desk.

Simplistic emotions aside, what are the crucial questions here?

* Could the US have prevented the Sept 11th events?
* Does the US administration really think that they can become invulnerable to similar terrorist attacks in the future?
* How will the US develop as a society within this constant fear of

Powell just recently talked about terrorist organisations entering the US vs going elsewhere and doing crimes in order to send their "Message to the world on their philosophy and evil intent". Is the US becoming more safe with the finger printing of anyone entering the country? With the tougher visa requirements, or the other airport and airplane security measures? As one member of the commission asked: "Why has there been no major attack here since September 11th? Is it luck? Some of these measures? What is it?" (roughly paraphrased)

The attacks in Spain are a case in point. Despite all the measures imposed by the EU and the wider authority by intelligence agencies, and the narrow down on the space of privacy - despite all this they had (it seems) NO CHANCE in stopping these terrorists attacking those trains.

What does this say about national security - homeland security? That one must do more to protect the nation? That the US must be even More strict? That we should naturally suspect any middle east-looking man carrying a heavy bag as a potential terrorist? Should we have big gleaming crescents in red as tags which every muslim should wear?

I am sorry about that last sarcastic point, but all I mean to say is:

How does one intend to protect a country in these times where the enemy is not some major military force, but instead it could be 11 individuals with a total amount of 1/2 million US $ at their disposal.

I am deeply worried about this development, and I think that with this whole 'War Against Terrorism' we are not listening to the “Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater".

Whether we intend to or not, our actions do have a wider effect than those we want to harm. Are these side-effects acceptable? To what extent? Is it acceptable that say 25% of those who are termed "enemy combatants" and placed on some military base on Cuba are indeed Innocent? ]]> Tue, 23 Mar 2004 12:34:00 EST http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15113 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333 http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15077
I have been an avid online gamer in my spare time since 1996.

From 1996 to 1999 it was Valhalla - a fantasy MUD based on the DIKUII system.

From 1999 till 2002 I changed totally genre and started playing 'Counter-Strike', a FPS (first person shooter) which is pretty repetitive and shallow, but still has its own flavor of fun. In 2001 I actually worked as manager of a computer cafe here in Bergen, so I was pretty much 'into' the whole computer cafe environment. All this while in my 'other life' I was full time working as vice-president of my university student's union, being member in loads of different committees and travelling quite a bit around Europe too in my position as president of blabla.

From 2002 to today I really havent had any such hobby. I did some Quake III but I found it pretty boring, same with a lot of the other games. I did find 'Battlefield 1942' quite interesting though.

A few months back I started spending a few hours on "Dungeon Siege", a game in the style of Diablo or Neverwinter Nights. It, too, is repetitive, but it is hilarious how addicted one Can get sometimes.

What is your favorite game for those times of the day when you just had enough of all the 'serious' stuff? And don't say "Playing the guitar learning new Spanish Folk Tunes"! ;)

[link]


]]> Mon, 22 Mar 2004 08:35:00 EST http://dltq.tigblog.org/post/15077 55.65 12.083333355.6512.0833333