Pelshval

Antropologiske betraktninger om pelshvaldrift

Category: ENGLISH (Page 26 of 26)

There a few posts written in English

Bradley Manning again

17.05.2013 /

I very rarely allow somebody else to speak my heart, as I feel I am best qualified to do so. However, on this topic I bow out. Bradley Manning’s trial is starting on a sinister note. About the denial of access to press and public, please see Center for Constitutional Rights

Even more disheartening is the pusillanimity of both the press and leading human rights organisations. Nobody who is anybody (yours truly being, frankly, only a pelshval, after all) has the guts to  denounce the biggest and greatest of bullies, the so-called democracy  US of A. Is there, for instance, any country that has a larger number of  Nobel Peace Prize laureates? (Oh, I blush for shame!) While the rest of us fawn upon the chauvinist Cyclops, little Bradley Manning’s trial is starting with hardly a murmur of dissent from the press.

And here is where I leave the stage to Julian Assange, whose words copied in below I found somewhere on the Internet — on a site I had never even heard of , and I did not take note of  the source; I merely copied the text. I found it important and very, very disheartening!

QUOTE

What are other ways people can help Bradley Manning’s case?

People could put pressure on Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. These groups briefly protested the horrible conditions under which Bradley was detained when he was held in Quantico, but not the fact that he’s being charged with crimes that could put him in prison for life.

It’s embarrassing that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch—Amnesty International headquartered in London and Human Rights Watch headquartered in New York—have refused to refer to Bradley Manning as a political prisoner or a prisoner of conscience.

To name someone a political prisoner means that the case is political in nature. It can be that the prisoner committed a political act or was politically motivated or there was a politization of the legal investigation or the trial.

Any one of these is sufficient, according to Amnesty’s own definition, to name someone a political prisoner. But Bradley Manning’s case fulfills all of these criteria. Despite this, Amnesty International has said that it’s not going to make a decision until after the sentence. But what good is that?

UNQUOTE

For shame, Amnesty Internationl!

For shame, Human Rights Watch!

Julian Assange adds: “I find their position grotesque. Bradley Manning is the most famous political prisoner the United States has. He has been detained without trial for over 1,000 days. Not even the US government denies his alleged acts were political.”

For my part, all I can do is sigh. Much help that will do!

Homage to András Schiff

01.06.2012 /

Though it is extremely unlikely, Mr Schiff, that you will ever find your way to this obscure Norwegian blog spot, I address whoever may be reading it in English, as what I am writing is intended for you.

Or rather, not only for you; also for some of the people you hoped to reach when you allowed the Guardian to post links to recordings of each and every one of your eight remarkable piano recitals of and about Beethoven’s sonatas, at Wigmore Hall – I believe it was in 2006 [sic]. I am also addressing some of the people who (in 2012) insist on preventing us from enjoying your work and that of others.

In the course of the past week (in 2012), after I had discovered the Guardian’s link from 2006, I learnt that none of the people I told about your recitals at Wigmore Hall, had ever heard about them.

Not to beat about the bush, I hasten to insert the link to your recitals here:

Guardian and Andrass Schiff recitals

I find that though I have listened to “classical music” since I was born, I learnt and am still learning a great deal from your recitals; not only about Beethoven, but about music in general. And that was, perhaps, why you sacrificed your copyright interests; for as you say in your very first lecture, “music education is not what it should be”.

There is a chasm between “classical” and “popular” music, notwithstanding the fact that even “classical” music was once popular. Moreover, just as Beethoven could not help learning from Hayden – and personally, I do understand his reluctance to admit the fact – popular music owes most of its bag of tricks to classical music. The chasm is, in my mind, based on the wide-spread misunderstanding that “classical” music is esoteric, something that requires special skills.

You say that music should be played, not talked about, but frankly, I think you have proved the very opposite: interpretation of what is construed as esoteric, also requires words. And your words are just perfect!

I carry very little influence, I’m afraid. Or rather, I don’t normally care what influence I carry. Only when I see a good thing that should be made known to many, do I deeply regret that I do not have a bevy of acolytes.

Apart from a sincere desire to express my gratitude to you for the delicious hours I have spent listening to your Beethoven recitals, I have another agenda:

When I had listened to what you played, and your quiet explanations of why you played what you played the way you played it, I was convinced that there was overwhelmingly good reason for playing the way you did. I turned to an Internet store to buy four records played by you. Had I not heard your recitals, I would never have known more of you than that you are one of a large number of star pianists.

I repeat:

– I heard your exposés and was grateful because you gave them to me.
– I heard your exposés and was convinced that your interpretation of Beethoven sonatas was well-founded, to say no more.
– I heard your exposés and felt they awakened in me an interest to hear more Beethoven.

I now turn to producers of music and film, and IFPI who have much – very much – to learn about me and from you.

[“IFPI – International Federation of the Phonographic Industry – represents the recording industry worldwide with some 1400 members in 66 countries and affiliated industry associations in 45 countries.”]

  • I am a discerning customer.
  • I will not accept unquestioningly whatever you put on my plate.
  • I have no time to wait until a film or record is on sale where I live: I want it online when I am ready for it.
  • I don’t buy blindly: I want information about the film/record I download.
  • Unless you cater to what I want, I will buy nothing from you.

I admit that I do not represent a majority of your customers or potential customers. I put it to you, however, that people like me make up quite a large group, and unless you are absolutely certain that you will top every popularity list, you should consider our requirements.

As a result of IFPI’s absurd and counter-productive demands to the Norwegian Broadcasting Company (NRK), I and many others no longer have the chance to hear about records we might want to buy and films we might want to see. For instance, the likelihood of our hearing András Schiff is virtually nil. So chances are that sales of his records will be paltry in Norway. That is, of course, unfortunate for those who miss something they never even knew existed. It is also unfortunate for András Schiff and for the company that issues or publishes his work.

Fortunately for me, I read the Guardian, which was where I found the delicious link that has generated such a flurry on my part. Unfortunately for András Schiff, most Norwegians do not read the Guardian and are victims of IFPI, meaning they will hear no presentation of his or anybody else’s music (or films).

Letter from Norway to Mr Cameron

15.08.2011 /

Ever since a Norwegian psychopath massacred 69 people at a youth camp, the Norwegian population has been more united than it has ever been before, including during WWII. Such unity will not last, of course, but for now, it is touching.

The political party furthest to the right, to which the perpetrator had belonged, also bowed its head in grief and horror. The entire country did. Every one of us was dumbstruck and tearful, and many of us still are, though we found collective relief, one Monday afternoon after work, in demonstrating what we felt, with roses. Millions of roses.

Fortunately, the perpetrator was a blond Norwegian, not somebody with brown skin, in which case, his act might not have united but divided. In Norway, 11.4% of the population is of foreign stock, and in Oslo, the proportion of foreigners is 27% [http://www.ssb.no/befolkning_en/]. Needless to say, in any majority, there will always be somebody who resents minorities,  and there will always be minorities who deeply resent the majority, even in the best of times, and when the chips are down, as in the UK these days…

Chips have been down in the UK for quite a while, haven’t they, at least for a large and perhaps growing part of the population. Take a look at these figures: http://www.poverty.org.uk/summary/eu.htm (in the left column, click under EU: primary indicators or secondary indicators). The UNDP gini coefficient – which is a measure of income inequality – is 0.36 in the UK, which is, frankly, pretty lousy, if you ask me. In fact, as far as I can see, only Portugal is worse off in Europe… and oh, yes, Russia. [http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/indicators/161.html]

Unfortunately, I cannot find older UK gini coefficients (other countries have them). Could it be that the UK is loathe to expose that inequality has risen rather than decreased?

In the light of the above, Mr Cameron, we are puzzled here by some of your statements concerning the riots’ relationship to poverty. Obviously, looting and violence cannot be condoned. On the other hand, I’d say that what your country has done to the poorest 20% or 40% of its population cannot be condoned either.

I live in a non-white area built in the early nineties. I moved here because it was cheaper than all-white neighbourhoods and because it looked inviting and sunny. It even had a beautiful view. There were children playing outdoors, and I hadn’t seen children playing for years. I don’t regret for a moment having moved here.

But I will not deny having felt a vague “them vs us” malaise to begin with, a certain distrust, which affected my attitude to my new neighbours. In the end, it was the children that won me over. Coming home to be occasionally surrounded by their bright-eyed eager questions about my dog, or just seeing them engrossed in their make-believe games, distributing roles (“you are the watchman, and I’ll be the terrorist”), made me look forward to seeing them, to appreciate their harmony and to respect their parents.

On my bike, I visit adjoining areas. I live just by the edge of one of Oslo’s wealthiest (and most beautiful) neighbourhoods. Weaving your way through it is a treat, but never do I see a child or, for that matter, anybody at all. Gardens look institutional, and are probably kept by hired gardeners.

In the other direction, I come to a recently built, mixed residential area; post-modern blocks of flats, surrounded by rolling lawns and patches of woodland, together with a large piece of land dedicated to a multitude of little private gardening plots (each about 3 by 5 meters). When I cycle past, as I often do because the whole area inspires me with hope, a dozen or so adults will be tending their plants.

The area’s heart is a great big football field, surrounded by pathways – its arteries – with a not too large, rather beautiful school on either side. Every time I go there the pathways are peopled by ambling adults walking their dogs or babies, or just chatting to each other.

In such an area I imagine that you have to be very dedicated to be able to breed a criminal gang. It is possible, of course, and there are – needless to say – criminal gangs in Oslo. But living in a brown area, I am very surprised to see no sign of them (obviously they are here too, as social workers would be able to tell me).

Gang prevention requires more than thoughtful architecture, of course. For one thing, it requires brave and dedicated teachers, health and social workers, etc., something that in turn requires decent wages and working conditions, so that people will be willing and able to put heart and soul into their work. What is also required is that politicians do not insult the part of the population that has a foreign background or is underprivileged for other reasons, one of them being that the UK has a poor track record in the matter of wealth distribution. Wouldn’t you say, Mr. Cameron?

I think, Mr Cameron, you would find a visit to Oslo – mind you, the part of Oslo where I live – interesting. And since I do not doubt your honest intentions, I should be very glad to show you around.

 

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