All Fired Up

At the core

Racism.
To some that word will instantly cause anger and irritation.
Not in the way you might think though. In Norway these days we have a huge part of the population who will react with irritation by reading or hearing the word "racist". They will claim that there is no such thing as racism in Norway, or anywhere else for that matter, they will state people who claim to have been exposed to it, are whining, weak, and milking the term for all it's worth.
Yes, in Norway we now have white people who will get pissed off at black people for being angry/hurt after being subjected to racism. This week, the black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr, was arrested for trying to get into his own home. A neighbour called the cops because she assumed the black man and his black friend were trying to break in to this house in this very posh neighbourhood. These people here in Norway write stuff like this: Oh my god, the police just did the job, oh my god the woman just reported a burglary, oh my god the black man was angry, yelling at the cop, he deserves to get arrested. The professor even identified him self with his Harvard ID, and the cop called up Harvard to verify..... If that professor had been white, with a white friend, the woman next door would know his face from before? The woman would not call the cops to report a white male. She would assume the white male had lost his key and was trying to get inside, she might even ask if he needed assistance. People....you see racism is ASSUMING something about an ethnic group. ASSUMING the only reason why a black man would be trying to get into posh house in a posh street, would be to rob it. There is no way round that fact. Racism is not only stating "I hate niggers" It's alot more complex. And racism is still very much alive all around us, and you must never, never let your self slip into that disgusting way of thinking. There is no racism in Norway? Tell that to my African friend who in her job as a trained nurse, mets patients who will refuse to let her touch them before she cleans her hands ONLY because she is black. Patients who will let her clean their asses, but not let her draw blood because they think she will give them AIDS. What would you call that if not racism? Would it only be racism if the patient said " I refuse to let you touch me before you clean your hands, nigger" ? Then and only then? I have been thinking lately maybe we need a new word, maybe the word racism is so potent, so harsh it's time to dig deep into the state pocket and pay some professor to come up with a new modern word, with less history and less emotion.
But no. This is what you are, this is how we see you, and that word must never change: A racist is a racist and we will never stop pointing our fingers at you. That, dear people of Norway, is what you get for being shallow human beings.

In the need of god

This is not a blog about the late Michael Jackson, it is however a blog about mankind's never ending need for gods, their never ending need to have someone/something lead their life instead of doing it by own hands.
Professor Hans Fredrik Dahl published an article today's Dagbladet, and he more or less summed up what I have been thinking the last couple of weeks.

Life is not a mystery to those of you who spend your life floating around thinking about getting your hair done, or how to color coodinate your 2.5 children. Life is not a mystery to those of you who go to church every sunday and to those of you who celebrate christmas, get married in church, or claim to not be a believer in any gods. But under the surface there dwells a fear, a fear of the unknown, a fear of death. but you never go there, oh no. You never talk about that fear. Maybe it sneaks its way into your monthly nightmare, or maybe it flashes before your eyes the second before you switch channels to avoid the horrible story about protesters being killed in Iran. Actually most of you will spend all your life avoiding anything that makes you wonder or explore this mystical thing called life. Why?

Because of your fear of death. Running around like mice, breeding, fucking your partner, traveling to Spain, putting your parents in a home, expanding your house, getting promoted, looking forward to retirement, then and only then will you be relaxing and living the life you always wanted. Not once realizing retirement means death is close. But when someone you idolize dies, his/her face will pop in grilled cheese, in vegetables, in trees, you will see them in the local diner (being incognito), you will receive messages from the other side: The idol is here! He walks with us! Not even fucking Elvis is dead. Never. Noone ever dies. Not even you. Worship the new god!

When people like Elvis, Diana or Michael die there is a mass conception, a mass suggestion that your collective mourning and idolizing will keep them alive. Keep you alive. It's classic transference. It's a 21st century death cult revival. It's the oldest of cliches: It's not me - It's you.

Trust me.
Death will come.