Valentines Day and commercial holidays

As a Norwegian citizen born and raised, valentines day has never really been important to me. Its not a day that we set aside for our loved ones as the english speaking nations do. However over the years, the corporate world has made more than enough of an effort to bring as many holidays to other nations as possible for the sheer thought of more profit. At the present time in Norway the most visible result of this is halloween and valentines day.

While i do to some extent oppose this method of profiteering, i can’t in good sense say that it has been all bad. in our modern times, i see that young kids spend much of their time infront of a screen just browsing the web, and while i do feel that its important that they learn to understand and use a computer, i do think they might be spending to much time at it. In the colder seasons in particular this is obvious, they don’t go outside because they have like most never really learned to improvise and take things as they come and just figure out something new and fun to do, something which is actually crucial in a childs early developement. This teaches interaction with other kids, it allowes them to get a little scratched up learning that say falling down does have consequenses and that you actually have to think things through when doing something.

Personally i had my fair share of this, in fact i can say that my dear mum didn’t really add it up until recently that on a pretty much daily basis me and my buddies would be climbing the hilside on the mountainside behind our house, we would also use a swing that was tied up to a tree that litterally swung us out over a 10meter high fall with no safeguards whatsoever. That same tree was also a treehouse for many of the local kids (really just a few boards to sit on but in our vivid imagination it was a fortress to be reckoned with!) Needless to say i am glad she never figured it out or i am sure i would have been grounded for life, or at least never been allowed to go there unsupervised (which we normally always did)

So how does this relate to the commercial holidays? Well it is only in a small limited way it does. These commercial holidays have a way of getting not only kids, but also grownups out of their comfy office chairs and put them into action. Kids love fantasy regardless at their age, Halloween is perhaps the best holiday in that sense, it offers diversity and imagination in abundance, and because all kids love sweets in one flavor or another they will go outside and go trick or treating around the neighboorhood. This part is something i can see as valuable, as for adults, well halloween offers a great excuse to bring out the little child within us. Dressing up isn’t just for kids, throw in a party and you got something that many people would love if they just allowed themselves to be a bit silly.

Valentines Day doesn’t give much to kids, but that also depends on what you define kids as. To me a 12 year old is a kid, a 16 year old isn’t. But for the 16 year olds and older popultion its a graet excuse to give our special someone a little extra attention. Personally i am of the strong opinion that this is something that you should do regardless, but for those that are not as attentive as those other few “cupids” this is their chance to redeem themselves.

On a personal level though, valentines day to me is a bit rough. I am always alone on it as i have never been able to really get into a relationship, and while it is just a celebration of love, and a commercial one at that, watching others have what i wish to have, tears me up inside. It pains me to know that i got so much to offer but none whom i can share it with. I don’t know if this is because i have just bad luck in women (i always seem to fall for those whom are already taken) or if i somehow offer to much or maybe don’t show much enough what i have to offer.

The perhaps bigger irony at the moment is that i actually have met this chick who is just so much fun to be around and i actually know for a fact that she is single too but i don’t think she is interested in me that way. (either that or did a major screwup when i was with her the other night just having a fun night out on the town)

I hope that things change soon though, i really hate being alone like this when i know i got a whole new view of the world to offer some special girl.

NEVER call me naive

Yes when i write this i am pretty pissed of, and with damn good reason.

My reason for it is rather simple actually. Its one of the oh so usual situations where my sister is frustrated at something but rather than actually dealing with it, she goes bulldog and bites down at whomever has a different viewpoint than hers, in this case it is me as it often is. I am not saying i can’t be wrong, but when something is purely at a theoretical level, at the point not even attempted or tried then it is not impossible, it can be a long shot, it can be a low probability of success it can be seemingy impossible, but it is never completely impossible and until it has actually been tried and failed it never will, that is the core of every science we have today and is the foundation of our very society.

The topic today was just something my sister knew i had a strong view on, which is what i call a global united economy. Basically it is what it says, its all the economic forces (that is every country on this so far rotten little planet of ours (which is my opinion). Now i have every since the idea popped into my head (although i am sure i am not the first) thought that if the entire world was to unite under one banner we would be able to end alot of the chaos that runs around the world with poverty and illnesses) Being born into one of the worlds most wealthy nations i have never known this, but i have seen it. I have walked the slums of Nairobi and we do have beggers in our cities, we do not all have what i was fortunate to get.

In any case we start talking and she wants to hear why i believe this theory. I tell my points about it which in itself is simple, but i am but one mind here. One thought is rarely enough it takes more to make it work.
She asks me where i am to get the resources for this if everyone is to be raised to “our” standard (that being the norwegian standard) Well the economic part is at a governmental level, it will debated between them on the best global plan for an economy, once that is settled, the plans will be put in motion (over time of course) so that the changes can start happening.

Then she goes on to how we are going to get all the wood for the new houses to fit this standard. Eh, hello, who said anything about trees, I sure didn’t. And while i see her point on that if we chop down all the trees we will be in a bit of trouble with the balance of nature (not that we aren’t screwing nature over as it is, cause we are) Anyway, i suggest concrete. It doesn’t affect the wildlife as much and we can get loads of it pretty much anywhere. It may cost a bit more for starters but it will give room for more workers and will build more economic housings (from what i get these houses actually retain heat better) I am not saying they will be pretty or anything, but even that can be worked on.

As far as work force goes, well with a global economy comes better schools all over. It thus brings more educated people and it also brings thousands of new businesses of all scales that offers millions of new work places which is all good. Now i have never been a fan of big cities but of course these houses would likely be that seeing as if everyone where to live in regular housings it would upset nature to much, but hey thats the way its heading anyway.

The way this works is that the wealthier nations would have to agree to reduce their standards a bit. That means no fat paychecks for undeserving people (like most government have, which also in many cases write their own fat paychecks) and it will likely mean less of the really big spending for the wealthy people. I am not saying this is something that will seem like a benefit for everyone, it will seem like a miserable hell for someone and heaven for someone else, but on a global level it will balance the scales from filthy rich to butt naked poor to an equally fair ground. Everyone will be equals and there will be an equal chance to get on the better side of that life. I for one am willing to give up a spoiled rich mans life (well ok not that filthy rich, i am an average citizen in norway, but as a nation we are spoiled rich) only really filled with guilt over all those millions who lead fucked life asking themselves what they want to do IF they grow up rather than asking what they want to do WHEN they grow up.

I am sick of seeing as i can get great health care all over the world because my nation is willing to pay for it when somewhere else they can’t get it at all because their nation can’t afford it. I am sick of seeing people only believing in religion cause they believe they can get a better afterlife because this one got them screwed up. I am just SICK.

And for this my sister calls me naive. “It is a “sweet” thought” to use her words. No it isn’t, its a THOUGHT and thats all it is so far and there is no reason to try and call it naive or dumb or impossible. The only thing standing between this happening is people like her who refuse to believe in things. Ok that may not be entirely accurate, she does believe in things, but what i see her believe in is simply the things that exist in her tiny little world. She repeatedly said she wished she could help more than she did and how some organisations do a very good work with what little she can offer of cash.

Right THERE is the fault, she wish she wish. If she wish it then do something about it. Oddly enough this is something she always talk about, if you have a voice and can complain, do something instead of just bickering about it. Well its hard doing something otherwise when she is bickering about how damn impossible and naive it is.

The first step is to get rid of this notion that somethings are impossible. Come on we live in a world where our research has actually been able to create what you can call a bloody invisibility cloak for gods sake. (no i am not kidding, it has been seen on tv and no i am not talking about Harry potter, i am talking about a science program on discovery channel (DC) (and no it was not a program about special effects)) We live in a world where our genomes are mapped and we can almost program our own kids should we chose too. We are entering a stage where we can almost print replacement organs (yes i said print cause thats the word the scientists on DC used)

What is odd is that i usually don’t mind our fights, we grew up fighting each other pretty often, but NEVER will i tolerate being called naive or foolish. The reason for not tolerating that is because it is something i put behind me.

People always say that you should work for what you believe, You should never let go of your dreams, never give up on something you believe. She even says this and yet she asks me to stop being so naive, to give up what i believe in.

I am fighting for what i believe in. I know i won’t see it in my lifetime, but i know it will have to happen at some point. But until then i will fight the way i perhaps suck the most at but no less fight the best i can with, my words. its all about making others believe it is possible, once enough people believe about it, change is inevitable.

All i know is that if i even give up on this i might as well go bury myself 6 feet down. My selfish hopes and dreams are no longer anything else than whispers in my head. They can be fantasies and daydreams but no where near the strenght of the voice that tells me that this is the right choice, this is the right path that will lead to a world everyone can live in and everyone can say “WHEN i grow up”

Pets & Aliens

As odd as the article sounds to begin with, it is not without reason i chose to write about just this. I do in fact see some things in common with them and i hope that when i am done writing this, you will all agree on at least some of the things that i wish to say.

Now, you may be wondering “what the hell can pets and aliens have in common?”
Well, alot of things really. The most important of these is perhaps that they are somewhat foreign for us. Don’t get me wrong, we have pets and we do get to know them when we have them (at least the good pet owners do) but think about it. Unless you have a really smart parrot, you never really know what a pet talks about, you can only understand how they feel and that doesn’t apply to all pets even, its just the ones that are most common, like cats and dogs.
I don’t expect us to understand the first alien either when we encounter one. But know this though, we are just as much strangers to them as they are to us. But both of these commend respect. If you don’t respect your dog or cat, they won’t respect you. Disrespect an alien and they won’t respect you. There is no reason to treat them any different than a fellow human being. And in the greater picture, we are all living beings and for that reason alone we should respect each other.

Now, i have seen a lot of things in my life, i have seen with my own eyes a dog getting beat up simply for barking. It didn’t bother anyone, but the owner no less hit it. I have no respect for the owner, unknown as he was to me and if i ever where to encounter him and remember him (which i hope i do) then i will treat him as such and i will hope he asks me why i treat him like i would. I would be honest and i also believe that the owner wouldn’t say a thing back at me.

Other than bugs (and even some of them too) i love animals. I have the greatest respect for them because i see that as the only reasonable thing to do. This planet is as much theirs as it is ours. The Indians really did get it right, this planet isn’t any individuals property. It is as much ours as anyone elses.
I never anyone or anything as something less than my equal. I have no problems with judging people if they do wrong. Don’t get me wrong, i don’t believe in the death sentence and i abide by that, but if i see injustice i do make up my mind about something and i keep to it until i can get some sense of remorse or apology for said injustice, and this applies to animals too. They have just as much rights as we do and should be treated accordingly.

I eat meat. I am like everyone else on this planet born an omnivore. And while that sounds like a disrespect to animals (and for some it perhaps is) i don’t believe so myself. Everything is a cycle. And nothing really leave us, it all just changes from one form to another, animals included. Plants grow from the ground, herbivores eat plants, carni-/omnivores eat herbivores, plants, herbi-,carni- and omnivores die and gets eaten by mushrooms and bacterias in the ground. The infinite cycle of life.
I see animals respect each other too. meat eaters never take on a healthy animal when they can take on a weak one. Yes baby animals do fall under weak ones and perhaps this is unfair, but all in all it is done to remove the old and weak and to keep populations in control. It all ends up in a balance.

As far as aliens go, well it is perhaps an eye opener for me. It came from me from perhaps one of the better shows i know, Farscape. I have just finished watching the entire show from season 1 to 4 including the peacekeeper wars. During this my mom asked me what i liked this show and how i could watch such hideous things.

Sadly i never answered in the only way that really is correct which is that they are just as hideous to us as we are to them. They are no different than you or I. Looks go skindeep, and that is something i abide by. True, I still think some people are unattractive and downright ugly, but it never changes the fact that even if i know this, it is more underneath. I can even say that someone i used to think i could love was someone i didn’t find remotely attractive when i first met her. To this day however i have changed and she still remains one of the most beautiful persons i know.

Farscape really shows a side of things that we perhaps need to embrace more often, the idea that even though we might look and even function differently, we are still all the same thinking beings really just want a peaceful life and seek a higher understanding of things. Also the idea that if you where to be thrown into the unknown universe and get stuck with a bunch of aliens not of your own specie that you could get along and work together and pehaps they can become your best friends in time.

Our world is a narrowminded and downright paranoid one when it comes to aliens. If they come we immediately assume the worst, that they wish to invade us. Well, maybe this is right but remember that they have come to us to begin with, meaning we still wouldn’t stand a chance. However, what if they come in peace looking for friends?
Do we still point our guns to them and fire on sight? Do we try to hide any evidence that they came and try to learn how to defend against them as if they where enemies?

We are a backwater planet stuck in the very edge of our universe, at the very outer parts of our tentacle on the galaxy known as the milky way. If i was ever offered to travel the vast universe i would take it in a heartbeat. I don’t pretend to be perfect for the job. I am not the brightest person here, but i will say that i am openminded to the unknown whatever it may be, i don’t make hast decisions without finding out as much as i can about the situation and i am keen to learn about other life out there. I don’t think that something is ugly simply cause it is unknown to us, I look at it with curiosity and delight at seeing something new. I amaze myself at the wonders of the universe rather than like a paranoid lunatic start shooting everything that moves. I might not go as far as loving someone of another specie, but i would have no problem becoming friends with one. (although on the love part, i wouldn’t completely rule it out)

I believe that as a race we can achieve much more than we have so far and in a fraction of the time we spend. I believe we can achieve a lot more together as a united planet than as a divided one. Pulling all of our resources together rather than everyone thinking that every country around them is out to get them i believe is the best way to go. There is nothing to lose and so incredibly much to gain by doing this.

rules and regulations, lies and deceit

It is from a perhaps an odd angle that i approach what i have on my mind when writing these words. I was actually watching an episode of Stargate SG1 (More specific season 10 episode 3) where i got to really feel something worth writing about.

In the episode, SG1 (as the team is named) is battling the Ori and have taken the journey to the Pegasus galaxy to seek answers in how to defeat these power mad ascended beings as they are. (for those who haven’t watched the show, well i really don’t care and i don’t intend to go into more detail. If you want more you’ll have to go somewhere else like tv.com)
One of these ancients take the form of a hologram to help the team just a little, in order to help them defeat the Ori. (they are both parties ascended beings, but the Ori use their interference on the lower plane unlike the ascended ancients)
Anyway, being bitter enemies as they are they want to destroy each other. The Ancients are the good guys but they are willing to forgo entire galaxies just to not interfere on the lower plane. The reason for this is simply that they want people to reach ascension (and become an ascended being) on their own. The Ori want to zap the lower beings power and not help anyone ascend either, basically gaining power while killing of the galaxy)
Now because the Ori gain this power, they are more powerful than the others and can thusly in time kill them.

But what amazes me is how they are willing to help the lower plane do the little things which in the end can fail at any time (of course it doesn’t cause that would end the show) but not help them actually deal with them there once and for all. Survival i believe is an integral part of anyone regardless of who or what you are (suicide victims being the obvious exception to the rule, but ascended are not suicidal in that fashion)
I can understand why they won’t interfere with the evolution of lesser beings, but i can’t get why they won’t help the lesser beings with a threat that started with them and that affects them just as much as the lower beings. Especially since one part is cheating and actually helping (the Ori empowers their priest with godlike powers which actually is a cheat since no ascended should be able to interfere)

What makes someone choose to forgo their own existence and by extension those beneath them when they are all affected by the very same enemy that does everything they can to defeat them?
What cause can be great enough to refrain from interfering with lesser beings in any form simply cause they don’t have the understanding of the universe just yet?

I won’t pretend i have all the answers, but don’t the lesser beings have any say in this?
Don’t they get the right to a fair chance to live on their own terms?
What gives the higher beings the right to act all holier-than-thou and not care about anyone else beneath them?

I have for a longer time now believed in the thought of ascending. Perhaps not in the same way as in this show, but in one form or another that our race can one day become beings of a higher order, with a higher respect of not only each other but also a just as great respect for that beneath us. Just because someone gains a greater understanding and power over something while others are left in the dark doesn’t make them better than the rest. it only makes them different and it also gives them the duty to help those less fortunate to achieve their level.
It is not like a god that sits upon a throne and looks down and its neither something that we should hold from each other.

i believe with all of my being that if we are to rise forth in this universe we have to stand together. Plato said that we are all personas sitting in a cave watching shadows on the wall in front of us rather than turning around to face the glorious light from outside the cave to see what is hidden there.

I am hoping that more will come with me outside the cave and see how wonderous the world is and much mroe respect it deserves compared to what we have shown it.

Anime and what it is to me

I previously mentioned how much i enjoy Anime. Not only because it differentiates from most other cartoons.
What i mean is that Disney is seemingly always stuck in a rut. Take a look at the stories in the various comics and its always the same. Something happens, Donald gets an idea and the outcome is either him beating the odds and getting a true happy ending or as in most of the case, it ends with him getting the short end of the straw and looses out. Mickey Mouse stories are again always the same. He gets involved in some mystery he has to solve and its always a happy ending, all that changes is who gets behind bars.

As for Batman, Ironman and other superhero stories from Marvel, DC Comics and other publishers that are starting to make it great on the cinema i have no interest in reading. Not only cause i have seen a fair amount of the cartoons on tv and i personally don’t really like how they draw the characters. Its not that its bad, if it was that then it wouldn’t have been so popular, its more a matter of taste.

For me Anime offers an escape from the more normal ways of telling things and it also offers different stories and a more liberated view to cartoons. What all the above cartoons mainly have in common that anime rarely has (at least the once i have read or watched which is becoming quite the amount these days) is that language barriers are not as strickt. Anime allows for swearing and they don’t mind quite the bloodshed every now and then either, cause it is all for the benefit of the show itself.

I hear so much about all these nutcrackers that want to protect kids from foul language, sex and nudity. While i am fine with shielding them a little for sex, as for nudity, blood and foul language i see no reason to shield them as much. If kids get protected from this then they will learn it elsewhere, and i say WILL cause there is no way to protect them from it and neither is there a reason to do so. What however should be a focal point is educating kids in the usage of these words. Using swearwords as any other word is wrong, but if you manage to wack your own thumb with a hammer i don’t see anything wrong with some loud swearing. If we are mad about a situation, its alright to vent some steam, just don’t direct it at someone. If you are annoyed at someone its alright to be mad at them, just control your anger and be diciplined and try to work it so it falls into a positive spin rather than it continuing in a negative one.

I won’t say that Anime does precisely this all the way, but even for its flaws, i would say that it offers to much good for it to have to be changed into something that in my eyes seems like a butchered version of its original self.
What i am getting to here is for the most part how i really HATE how poorly translations are done from Japanese to English (which are the ones i seen as they seldom come in Norwegian, but they aren’t any better there)
personally i learned to watch the shows in Japanese. I don’t know japanese or anything, but i prefer to watch a subtitle. It fits better with the characters own movements but it also looks right (the only exception i can come up with for this is Avatar: The Last Airbender, but then again that is an american anime so not a true anime)
Secondly, i prefer to watch fansubs. (illegal subtitling done by fans and redistributed on the web) This is because a fansub group usually tend to translate much more accurate and create a better result than a licenced company (and that really gives a pathetic impression) and they release right after the initial air date so it comes out quicker too.

Anime has a soul to me that i haven’t seen in Disney stories made in the last two decades (from the 90s that is) The last good Disney stories i can remember are Duck Tales, and the Don Rosa and Carl Barks stories, they where oldschool and had a genuinely unique characteristic that most new cartoons miss althogether. Even drawing style seem to be that of a slacker in the newer cartoons (Kim Possible being a pretty good example i think)

I will admit that Anime is actually rather simple too. After all if you watch a show you will see that they reuse alot of frames and so it seems cheap. This is all true, but its remember the reason for this. Animation cost where cut low as to keep the cost, but the fans loved the way of telling the story like this and so it became something they decided to keep (although not everyone follows this path of course)

if you are wondering what made me write this, its actually something i just watched. It is a show i actually like, but like so many licensed animes get butchered in translation called Yu-Gi-Oh. Not only wasn’t the entire story present in the first episode, secondly the language was so butchered i am surprised that 5 seasons worth of english translated episoded where actually aired. Thirdly it saddens me to think that there must be a whole lot of idiots out there. Not saying there are, but it sure makes me feel like it.

If it was up to me, Anime would be forbidden to be translated from its original language. Subtitled in a different language is all ok, but no altered sounds anywhere. There would also be no censurship on the language and no cut scenes or altered stories for the sake of “young minds” We underestimate these young minds and take away to much of their joy as it is. Thirdly, there would be no way whatsoever i would allow any company besides its creator and initial publisher/producer to license it abroad. it would be done by fans. The only exception to this is those who would agree to use fanbased help to make the show be as correctly translated (in subtitles) as best as possible.

I am not alone on this. I have a huge group of supporters behind me and i am sick of watching coorporate businesses and overprotective adults trying to protect us from a threat that doesn’t exist. The only thing they should be thinking about is making good products and telling their kid what they want to know while telling them why this and that might or might not be bad so kids can see it but understand fake from real.

lost in translation

Not that much to say at the present time but i did come across something i have dear to my heart and that i had to address, and that is fansubs.

For those that don’t watch much foreign programs in foreign languages this won’t affect you much, but it does affect the millions that do watch anime. (which if my thought is correct is actually bigger than Disney or Marvel or any of those other comic book companies)

Anime is if you look at wikipedia defined as animation (cartoons) that come from Asia, or more precisely Japan (although the general style used to draw the characters is videly used in Asia and is beginning to take foothold in western cartoons as well (Avatar: The Last Airbender being the best proof of that)
Anime is the most viewed cartoons in Japan (which is pretty natural) but is also gaining more and more recognition throughout the world with millions of fans worldwide at the present time.

Now having said that, its pretty clear that most Animes will be broadcasted in the original language unless some company decided to license it and translate it to their native language. If not that then usually subtitled at least to accomodate the audio.

Now for those who don’t have the greatest access to Anime in their local area (yours truely being one of those individuals) then you do have a little problem. of course you can invest alot of money and have it shipped, but that means not only having to bother keeping track of new releases all the time, but also taking the fees and stuff for getting it mailed to you.

Personally i don’t mind either of those if i love the anime show enough (So far i have found a few of them, although i have only invested in one series so far) And while i love having the DVD’s of the show, i am somewhat disappointed in the quality of the work and that is also the reason i don’t like the licensed work or the official work at many times.

The reason i like fansubs is simple. Its ordinary people like me and you who take the time to give the rest of the world a chance to see the true nature of a show and why they love it. The translations might not be 100% (without speaking the native and the translated language fluently its hard to tell really) but they are much closer to the real deal i assume seeing as they don’t have the restrictions that all the official releases have. Taking one of my (and many others) favorite show Naruto as an example i can say that the main characters favorite technique (which is copying himself into many temporary clones) called Kage bunshin no jutsu originally has been named the doppleganger or something in the american official release. The real translation actually reads shadow clone technique (kage litteraly translates into shadow, just as bunshin becomes clone)

doppleganger just doesn’t sound good and there are countless similar cases where the official translations butcher the language. Another thing is that those who like fansubs generally like to have bits and pieces like naming (technique name as in the above mentioned example) to be in the native language and rather have a short explanation of what it is or something in the beginning.

Now onto what i really want to talk about which as odd as it sounds right now comes down to filetypes. There are many filetypes that fansub groups use to release their versions of the anime translations into the world. The most used being AVI (which actually is many different codecs and stuff and can be rather confusing but just remember its always named AVI) and the newer combatant to the DVD subtitling standad called MKV which allows the file to have multiple audio and subtitle tracks which can be selected.
(AVI missing these functions of course if that wasn’t clear in what i said) AVI is what is known as a hardcoded format (everything being in one file) while MKV is a softcoded format (being able to contain several files like a zip file) the size of the files generally doesn’t vary that much

While the choice seems obvious given this information, the choice isn’t that simple anyway. MKV being the superior filetype has flaws that you don’t have to worry about in AVI and while these faults aren’t in themselves critical they are annoying when present. The most noticeable one in my opinion is how when several characters may be speaking together and their “speechbubbles” overlap in the subtitles. Basically the text becomes unreadable and what is incomprehencible for most to begin with (as most of the world don’t speak Japanese) becomes completely incomprihencible because you hear something beyond you to understand and you can’t read what they are saying either.

A not so frequent problem is that the font (the type of text) used by MKV isn’t the best looking one. AVI coders usually have a very readable font with thick outlines to separate it from the animation, but even with this the size doesn’t get to big which is also an issue with MKV at times, a too big font. I have at times found the font to cover nearly half the screen (on a 19″ LCD screen i might add) which is alot.

I am not saying MKV is lost, i am just saying as an open format i would have expected a better standard, a better quality and software more able to resolve these issues easier and with more ease to the user before it was put into action. Thats the whole idea behind opensource, to combat the costly developed versions of the same product on an equal level but at no cost to the users.

My view of the future

With all that’s happening in the world today, the war on terrorism, the war on racism and the more recent war on financial troubles that is plaguing the world i have to a higher degree begun to think about what i believe the world is coming too. I usually do think about this stuff on an everyday basis, but never put much time or effort into it more than i have recently.

The reason for this is without a doubt related to my view on a lot of things, many of them really not important in themselves, but a part of the bigger picture always.
So with this in mind, i figured i should at least try to put down a few words of what i see the future becoming at it present course and what i would like it to be and a little about how i think we can achieve those goals.
It is of course a somewhat crude and simplistic look on it (i assume many will see it like that anyway) but i have always thought of life to be rather simple in it self. It is always us humans that make it more complex than it has to be.

So to get started, lets view the various types of groups we have around the world. We still have a ways to go in the issue of men vs women, but at least in the west (and in the farthest east) these points have begun to come to a halt (its more the middle-east and to a degree the African continent that has an issue on that still) As for the other issues, well there is the political, financial, religious view that are the main focal point.

In the far east this is an ok subject. There isn’t much conflict in it but in the middle-eastern area that this is really heated subject. The terrorism we face in these areas use this as a leverage to create a power point against the mightier western areas (more precisely USA). of course they have the advantage of knowing the place better than them so its still a stalemate. Of course i am not going to say religion ain’t heated elsewhere. It is seemingly a heated theme anywhere you look if you happen to either speak the wrong words (or simply utter what you think are ok words the wrong way) or if you get interpreted the wrong way by someone else (basically a breakdown in communications)
Now i can get that someone can believe in something and would want that. I used to at some point and i slightly still do. But i have also made it a point that unless someone directly insults me or my close circle for it, i won’t take offense to it. By that i add that i think about what they say several times over as to be sure there was no mistake in what they say and i ask what they mean about something i might have misunderstood.
As for economy and politics, well they walk hand in hand with the problems internationally today. I see a simple way of ending the economical situation around the world. Its as simple as unifying our resources. If everyone gets an equal share then we could bring the third world nations out of their poverty and put right all the differences between how much people make here and there. We could support money where it is needed without thinking of how to get it or if there is enough for it. Medical help would also be improved as a result of this if we simply say that medical facilities get money supported so that everyone can get the treatment they deserve.

Of course to do this requires everyone to agree on a political system which is hard in itself. Seeing as we have all sorts of them running around these days with Korea (or half of it at least) being dictatorship still (and i am sure there are more than just them around) and we still have those that want communism and those who love capitalism. Now the dictators will have to give up their spots cause that is an otherwise impossible spot to add in, but the communist and capitalists can still work well together. I Keep thinking of how we do it here in Norway.
We do believe in the free marketing, but we also believe in fair marketing. Thus we have a divided system. We have the government running its own operations with power to intervene in the private market should the need arise (say a devastating bankruptcy or monopoly situation) and we have the free private market run by the everyday person that wishes to run their own enterprise. Now the government can’t interfere just as they see fit, there are rules for how it has to work and they work fine too (not flawless but changes can be made) The free market can also get deals with the government to make stuff or whatever they may need so they work together for a common good and there is a balance between the two forces.

I am not saying we should go by our system, but we aren’t the only ones with this system and any of these can be used as an example. Getting this sorted opens up for people to get work where ever they may find it. People can travel more freely and in the end i think we can feel safer overall with terrorism and other crimes against humanity.

Many will by this deduce that it seems like i am trying to unite everyone under one banner, and to tell the truth, i am. But don’t think this is going to affect your nation in any cultural sense, cause it won’t. While the borders between nations will be erased, i believe that culture is not bound by borders, but bound to ones heart. If you really want to preserve something then you can still do that simply by showing pride in it and sharing it with equal minds and anyone who wishes to know of it and celebrating it when it is cause for that.
The other side is to always accept that culture was until we began record history a fleeting thing. Always changing always moving and always adapting to the circumstances. The fact that we can see what it used be should be proof of that and people should learn to embrace the changes, not fear them.

Most of my friends all agree that change are good. Like me they don’t have much sense of their “own” culture, but they have culture. They have embraced a global ever changing culture taking in whatever the world has to offer and fitting it into their own if they see a place for it. But through this they still have that national feeling and and a feeling of belonging, a feeling of being a Norwegian (i don’t even have that).

Thus with this it is my hope that the world can stop shedding tears of blood and start shedding happy clear tears of joy that can shine in the sun. To share the earth we all belong to be it black or white, be it this or that religion, be it this or that culture, be it on the west end of the world or the east end.

in the end, in our lifetime there is not like we have anyplace to go or we would all have said our goodbyes and left for other planets around the universe.

Kids and the dangers around them

After reading Marcus Ranums post on dA (http://mjranum.deviantart.com/journal/20534741/) (recommend everyone to read it) I really have to say that i don’t want my future kids growing up dumb.

I want kids that have bruised themselves climbing trees, maybe broken a leg or an arm, got a nail right through their foot and cut themselves shaving (of course by then i assume they have had all the other stuff)
I want them to be comfortable seeing a g guy running butt naked down the street and rather laugh about it than come running to me screaming “daddy daddy, that man is scaring me”

Myself, well i am uncomfortable being nude in public and of course as any normal sane kid, i don’t want to see my parents nude (sadly that has happened more than once already) Other than those (and other relatives) i love to see a nice bare booty, a vagina puts a grin on my face (or a grim pending on the age) and a dick will generally make me laugh (unless it comes my way)

Porn is something i see as healthy, i have had stitches right on top of my head as a result of a clumsy best friend (don’t worry, long since forgiven, although i do remind him from time to time :p ) and i have even despite even hating to go topless (and yes i am a guy) been streaking down the main street of my hometown (true it was midnight and i was alone with 2 other guys only but still counts) and you know. I am perfectly fine. My family (or rather my mothers side) has never really been the ones comfortable talking about sex either but thats slowly changing too. (thank god i am capable of keeping the images out of my head)

I want my kids to feel comfortable being who they are around whatever it may be. If they haven’t received a cut or anything how will they be able to keep cool if they get mugged by some crazy ass dude with a knife? If they watch porn and get a boner (assuming i get a son) how the hell will he go about it. I hope he doesn’t do what i did the first time i watched porn with someone (which ended in a poor attempt to hide it, something i still hear about today nearly a decade later)

My kids will climb trees, they will accidentally hammer their own thumb and they will cut themselves. They will if lucky have sex earlier than me (although not before they are 16 i hope) and they will feel comfortable with it and they will not be a skeptic about everything around them.

Its bad enough having paranoia over strangers (something i still struggle a little with) and the threat of terrorism looming over us all the time, not to mention the other raving lunatics out there. What joys they can find in life i want them to have them and what experiences they can get (well apart from killing and doing drugs) i want them to have despite how bad they are. I want my kids also to know that they can come to me and talk about it without fearing to get grounded or get yelled at. I want them to be able to feel that they can have a relationship with me not only as a dad, but also as someone who can be there for them.

I want them to know that if they get hurt they can come to me. But as much as it pains me, i do want them to get hurt on their own so they know what it is like. Not knowing pain is the greatest pain of all cause you don’t know what to do when it suddenly hits.
Its the same as if you lose someone close to you. You want to mourn but as we all know, we never know quite how cause each loss is different and each case is unique.

I want them to connect with their emotions and talk to me about them. I want them to grow up in a world where i don’t see: “not suitable for kids between the age of — and –” but rather see wise young minds growing up with comfortable and with experience to deal with their surroundings rather than shield themselves from them.

Science and Religion

I have always considered myself a Christian despite what i believe. I don’t believe in god and while i do believe a guy named Jesus did exist at some point and that he may or may not have had a great number of followers i don’t think he was the son of any greater power. I believe in science and the existence of the soul so for the most part i guess that makes me an atheist.
So why do i call myself a Christian if i don’t believe in these fundamental things in Christianity? Well there is a simple reason for it really. I was born and baptized into the Christian belief, i was Confirmed in the Christian belief and for the most part i can somewhat agree with the bibles teachings. That is, not to kill, not to cheat on your wife, not to steal, be kind and respectful to those around you and so on.
I also believe that the bible has more science in it than most Christians would like to believe. Like biology and how sex actually ain’t a bad thing and how abstinence is something the bible suggest bus also goes against itself and says is unhealthy.

All in all the bible is confusing as hell but its up to each and everyone to see it in their own way. I believe at some point it won’t be that different from person to person anyway. It will be much the same as we expand our ever increasing knowledge of things in the world.

What for me comes higher than any it though, is the existence of a balance. The more i actually take a step back to look at the picture as a whole i see that there is a balance between things around us. Most of us have seen these balances as well, they just don’t think that much about them, like life and death, rich and poor, healthy and sick, good and bad and the one that really displays things more clearly than any other; matter vs anti-matter.

Anti-matter is an odd thing actually. Its the opposite of what we are and while we may not be aware of it, its one of the few things that we all know about quantum physics. Everyone has heard about Einsteins theory of relativity and therein the all to famous E=MC². Although few actually know what they stand for. The E stands for Energy the M is Mass and the C is the speed of light in a vacuum (from the Latin Celeritas meaning speed or swiftness)

Beyond this i don’t know much more than the average person. I have never been much of a math expert, i can do basic math at pretty fast speed (faster than most my age as they tend to resort to the calculator) but more advanced stuff beyond Pythagoras equation about triangles i get lost. All i have is a very basic understanding of physics and the mechanics behind it. i don’t know the math but i can make most people understand the basic behind it if they allow me time to explain.

So how does religion fit into all this? well it really doesn’t fit into it other than like Einstein said:

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”

Religion to me is the pursuit of the spiritual existence and understanding of something beyond ourselves. Its not about some higher deity or power. As odd as it perhaps may seem, i believe the bible to be a creation of geniuses without witt. What leads me to say that is what is written but also the age it came from. I see the bible as a coverup for our not so bright ancestors who could never have had a chance of discovering the atom and unleashing its properties like we do in say nuclear plants. They would have feared it as something unknown to them and tried to get away from it. For some reason the bible acts sort of as a protection of sorts against this. It allows them to believe in something powerful without thinking that it has to be something to fear (at least not feared as it would otherwise have been. fear of god is better than fear of the unknown in this case)
How it came about to be this way i don’t know. perhaps the human potential itself acted in a way that we created a protective barrier we could later on be able to see through for what it was but never before it was time or perhaps it was simply really bright minds of their age that could not reveal themselves for what they where out of fear for their own lives for what they knew. After all throughout the ages there have been prodigies in all kinds of stuff. Mozart was a gifted musician at an early age, Einstein was a gifted physician and many others in similar situations. I wouldn’t doubt this to be a truth in itself. In any case we are in our age at a state where we are starting to see through the barrier. Not everywhere and not all of us just yet but in the near future.

personally i hope that most people get to see science as the governing force of the universe btu that they also start to see that their souls are the governing force of their belief in a better world. Religion is the belief in something greater than ourselves and can’t this be a way to just that?

Pedophiles, Drugs and Prostitution

So what do these three things have in common? Well other than being illegal in most parts of the world, nothing so why am i talking about them like they belong together?

Well i really don’t have that much to say about some of it and other parts i got a bit more, and seeing as these are things that everyone has an opinion about i figured i might as well take them together.

So lets start with pedophiles.

Well not much to say about them, they are child molesters who seem to have the idea (well some of them anyway, others just do it out of cruelty) that kids are sexual being and thus they use that right to screw them up for life.
Now i personally think that child molesters should be either thrown in jail for life or even more so get their reproductive gear cut of. There is no excuse for molesting a kid EVER.

On the other side, i must actually say that i believe that kids above a certain age are actually sexual beings. BUT (and that’s a big but at that) i also believe that kids are not aware that they are doing these things. Like with any other animal on the planet we are animals. We possess a primal instinct for reproduction to keep our species going rather than going the way of the dodo (extinct that is)
The reason for saying this is actually really simple. Think about what a kid is. its a younger version of ourselves that has little experience with the world. Now this low experience sometimes can do amazing things that we adults simply dismiss. Kids can sometimes have an invisible friend, we have all seen it happen in the movies and it has become a sort of stereotype. But kids don’t always see just these imaginary friends. They also sometimes (not always) see the real deal, figments that we adult can’t see because we have rationalized the world and these are just outside that rational wavelength to explain it like that. Kids being very impressionable can still see these things. They know things for a time that we adults forget.
I myself can remember an event like this happening to me. I can remember the dark outlines of a male very muscular figure sitting in the doorway to my bedroom once. I don’t remember how old i was, but i think i was maybe 6-7 years old and it was the last and only time i ever saw that figure. Now because it happened during the night everyone else i tell about it dismiss it as a dream, but i can distinctly remember being very much so awake and afraid of the figure and i have ALWAYS woken up if i had anything remotely resembling a nightmare. I believe this instinct is the same as with many animals that for instance are able to sense the weather and know what is coming (our cat is the best weatherman i ever met)

Still there isn’t much to say beyond that. Kids in my opinion are sexual but they aren’t to be used in that manner until they are AT LEAST 16 years and in a consenting relationship.

Now on to the second topic, Drugs.

Now i am an anti drug kind of person. weed, lsd, cocaine, heroine, you name it, i’m against it. If it ain’t prescribed by a doctor you shouldn’t use it (well perscription free drugs are ok if used as intended)
And to say that, no i haven’t tried any of it either so who am i to go against it just like that. Well you are right, i am not, but i still can have an opinion about it. The closest i been to drugs was the one time i was offered ecstasy (refused of course) other than that its the prescription allergy pills i take during the summer.

I have friends who do weed at times and while i will admit that i have been tempted to try it but i have always reasoned with myself (and chickened out) that drugs are bad. Addiction, the risk of getting HIV and AIDS through dirty needles not to mention all the other crap like withdrawl symptoms (for those long time users) and the likes. True that some of these might be good for medicinal purposes but if they where the best option for that then they would have been used wouldn’t they. They are left alone for a reason. I am not saying that the medical or government are right about it all, in fact i think its a wonder all the different governements are able to stay afoot with all the stuff they keep throwing out. But even they have their moments of glory.

Last topic, Prostitution.

What really is so wrong about it? Feminists say they violate womens right which is not true. Prostitutes chose their own path when they become prostitutes. They do get forced but then its also illegal. The legal choice like the women in porn (hey that is basically prostitution on tape) and the ones at these legal brothels here and there.
And these women make their living just like anyone else. They go to work and work their hours, get paid and go home. Now not everyone can be good at everything. I am not saying these women are dumb and thus they choose this as the easy way out cause that would be pretty far from the truth. Many pornographic actors have a higher degree and choose to do this cause they can. They get a great health care plan with regular checkups, they get to work a bit like they want and they get to have a good time.
And i can also add that in this business its usually the MEN that gets the least paid. The women get the better end of the deal.
To top it of it can also be said that many of the customers that some of these pro’s (that have come out in the open about it) do it for the intimacy, not just for the sex, but the simple thing as being with someone and feeling loved and these are experts at just that.
The only crime being done really is that street prostitutes can’t go to the cops and report any crimes done to them cause they are forced to do it illegal.

And let me just add this as an ending. I have never used a prostitute, although i have thought about it but in the end decided against it. My sole reason for not using it is because i am still young and i am in no rush. Love for money i don’t need when i can get the real deal other ways. I would likely have used one if i was older and alone but as said, thats not the case.