Consensual Devaluation of a Life

In Norway we've had this strange little law for about a year now. It says you're perfectly allowed to sell sex ... but you're not allowed to buy it. This, it has been said, is because it's not the prostitutes one is out to get, but the clients who create a demand and make the sex trade a viable business. A way of life, for some.

Most prostitutes on Norwegian streets are not from here. They're immigrants, refugees from Africa, women from Eastern Europe staying a few months in each country. Norwegians have money, they hear. And the costumers are many. So they come. Hoping to sell the only thing they have on the cold streets of Norway, sending money home to a family in a much poorer land.

Does it do something to you? Selling your body time and time again, giving the men what they want and taking their money. Or is it just another job? Do you feel sad and alone, getting undressed, spreading your legs? Or is it a job you chose because you wanted to?

Calling wife ugly illegal in Malaysia

Calling one's wife ugly may soon be considered an offense under a Malaysian law that seeks to protect a woman both physically and emotionally.

Women's Development Department director-general Noorul Ainur Mohd Nur said emotional violence was a form of abuse that scars women deeply and lowers their self-esteem, dignity and self-confidence.

"It could be a case when a husband tells his wife she is ugly or humiliates her until she feels emotionally pressured," she told media at the end of a seminar on how to curb violence against women.

The government is in the process of bringing the proposed amendment to parliament. (Hindustantimes.com, db.no)


A good way to deal with psychological abuse... or a little over the top?

Sexual harassment in junior high

I was reading an article in Norwegian newspaper BT about the increasing sexual harassment among teenagers in junior high school. The use of the term itself, sexual harassment, is criticized by many men who say touching a girl's breasts or groin isn't harassment, stating that; the girls themselves, wearing tight jeans and low cut tops, want guys to treat them that way.

The article itself is not shocking so you're not missing out on anything by it being in Norwegian. It was the comments that made me react;

• All women like to be groped. If they say anything else they're just playing hard to get. (thor)
• [women] are predators chasing men who should just be castrated so they don't constantly have to be abused by women who trick them because they think with their dicks during some weak moments. (kokken Tor)
• Inside, all women are wh***s (Reidar)
• I've had fat, 30 year older men come up to me, put their hand on my stomach and tell me "there's something here that needs to be edited way" while their own stomach is hanging down over the waist of their jeans... (Karen)
• WTF? The ones being harassed are the boys! Talk about generalizing and ridiculing boys. Girls dress and play hot and dumb. They know which buttons to press to take advantage of the boys. (reykjavikur)

This is just a random selection of the comments but it's actually rather frightening; by far the majority of comments express opinions like these.

I'm amazed how many men secretly believe women are inferior to them; girls should accept classmates touching them; girls are only out for attention; girls are fair game, especially if wearing something tight; they expect and want guys to grope.

I'm sure these are just the most extreme opinions, and most of us are really rather fond of the opposite sex, but still... I gotta ask.

Do you resent the opposite sex?

Russian hairdresser

A Russian hairdresser was about to close her salon when a man came in, waving a gun and shouting at her to get down. When he came towards her to take the money, she punched him and tied him up.

She then held him captive for several days, force feeding him viagra and abusing him sexually.

When the man was finally released he went to the police, and now they both face charges.


Umm... girl power?

I've got a riddle for you

What can it be that has been banned by American governments, something so special, so evil, Americans today are not allowed to have access to it.

This is a two year old article from an American newspaper. It warns the public about a certain illegal item which had been banned for ten years before it was discovered in two major cities, brought back by ruthless smugglers:

NEW YORK - Consumer Reports has discovered hazardous and illegal xxx on shelves in food shops in suburban New York and the Washington, D.C. area. The xxx are popular worldwide, but they have been banned in the United States by the Consumer Product Safety Commission since 1997.

The production groups' U.S. arm has fully honored the ban. However, the xxx still manage to make their way into the U.S. stream of commerce and are occasionally available from gourmet food stores, candy merchants, and ethnic importers.

Many of the xxx are imported by companies specializing in foods from countries where the product is available legally. The xxx are also available on the Internet. Until recently, even Amazon.com offered xxx sold by a Greek importer through its Marketplace program.


What can it possibly be, this horrible, evil thing that has the potential to injure, if not kill, Americans, but which Europeans seem resistant to?

Fucking on the Freeway

Sunday evening a car was seen speeding in Lier, Norway. Police noticed it moving back and forth through the lanes and decided to stop it.

Inside they found a man in his twenties in the driver's seat with his girlfriend on his lap. They were having intercourse, while trying their best (though unsuccessfully) to drive at 123 km/h (76 mph).

The man lost his license and the girlfriend had to drive home.


I've never done it, I don't think I would ever do it, but still you gotta wonder how...

Anybody tried this?

Sexting

Definitions:

1. The act of text messaging someone in the hopes of having a sexual encounter with them later; initially casual, transitioning into highly suggestive and even sexually explicit
   


2. When someone sends someone else a naked/nude pictures
   

CNN reports on the problem of so-called sexting, noting that if you are a minor you are committing a crime by sending someone a nude or seminude photo of yourself. If you send one of someone else the rules are much stricter and may secure you a spot on the registered sex offender list like this guy;

"Phillip Alpert found out the hard way. He had just turned 18 when he sent a naked photo of his 16-year-old girlfriend, a photo she had taken and sent him, to dozens of her friends and family after an argument. The high school sweethearts had been dating for almost 2½ years."

And people still don't understand why I think nude photos are a bad idea? It doesn't matter how much you love the person or how badly you want to sleep with them - relationships have a tendency to end and phones have a tendency to get stolen. But is this child pornography?


If you're willing to face the potential consequences - go for it! But if the thought of your parents seeing you naked wearing nothing but high heels and a leather whip makes you squirm a little, think twice before you hit the send button.

Afghanistan legalizes domestic rape?

A new law for the Shia Muslims of Afghanistan, making up 20% of the total population, states that it is illegal for a woman to refuse her husband sex.

It will also be illegal for a woman to leave the house, see a doctor, or get a job without her husband's permission.

Nothing strange about the last part, many Muslims abide by rules Europeans and Americans would never tolerate in this day and age. But, as Jan Egeland, former UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator stated;

"you cannot expect a tribal society to move from middeaval laws to becoming Switzerland or Norway in only a few years".

Still, the global society is reacting - it seems cultural relativism only goes so far when it comes to making rape the accepted norm - whether or not it is considered as such in a given society.

Jason LeRoy Savage and how America got more prudish.

29 year old Jason LeRoy Savage from Michigan has pleaded guilty and been convicted to 90 days in prison for having sex with a car wash vacuum cleaner.

According to mlive.com,

"Savage said the ordeal was humiliating and "has been overwhelming." He said people stare at him, he's afraid to come out of his house and he can't find a job."

I'd say the media would have to take the blame for that one - publishing his full name, photo and even home address.

The judge in the case stated;

"Savage brought national, night-time jokester humiliation and worldwide embarrassment to the Great Lakes Bay Region by having sex with a vacuum hose in a Thomas Township car wash."

Granted, it probably shouldn't be a regular thing. And you definitely shouldn't do it in public. But all I can say is; if I were a guy I'd wonder what a vacuum cleaner would feel like, and it probably wouldn't take me 29 years to find out.

Prostitute? Me?

I was walking up the stairs from the bridge where two men were sitting, they had a few bottles in front of them and seemed to be drinking. When I were a couple meters from them one said "ooh here comes one [something or other].

They mumbled a little between them, said something I couldn't hear, and as I walked past the other said "how much do you want for an hour?"

I'm not sure if I should be flattered or offended, so I decided to go with the first.

Still, I can't help but feel it's a little like mistaking Winnie the Pooh for Bamse, the world's strongest bear...

Chicken sandwhich please, hold the massacre.

While having breakfast I always check my emails and the news, it's the only part of my day that can be labelled routine. Let's see what's happened in the world today.

10 dead after teen shooting rampage at German school
A 17 year old former student dressed in military gear opened fire on the school Wednesday morning, leaving so far 10 dead and several more wounded. After an intensive manhunt the shooter is reported dead.
(edit: while I've been writing this post, numbers of dead have risen from 10 to 16)

Alabama rampage leaves 11 dead
A 27 year old man shot and killed 11, among them five family members including his mother and grandparents. As he was fleeing he killed random strangers along his way. Others are injured and numbers of dead may rise. The shooter finally turned the gun on himself.

5 human heads discovered in ice chests in central Mexico
The victims' eyes were taped shut and the heads had been severed only a few hours before they were discovered, a police statement said. The tops of the ice chests were inscribed with messages."Like these, I am going to finish everyone," says one.

Attacker hurls grenade near Kiev station, seven wounded
An unidentified attacker on Wednesday hurled a grenade through the window of an office linked to Kiev's main railway station, wounding seven people.

Spain commemorates Madrid train bombings
Five years later, the 191 people who died are not forgotten. Ten bombs in four trains in the southern part of Spain's capital Madrid killed close to two hundred commuters on the morning of March 11th 2004.


Nothing like a good massacre to start your day...

Shoplifter? Me?

I was coming back from my exam when I stopped by one of those $5 shops looking for batteries. When I couldn't find any and left, a man came running after me wanting to look in my purse.
"Oh. Sure. Do I look that suspicious?" "Yes."

He then said I had seen him and gone straight out of the shop. I'd also shifted the straps of my purse on my shoulder so I'd probably put something in it. Then he told me a few times to show my purse in the register every time I leave from now on.

He glanced at my now-open purse, and told me again how suspiciously I was acting. Quite frankly I was too shocked to do much so finally I just said "Sir, yes sir!", saluted him and left.


What was my crime? What made him notice me? What made him suspect me of having dishonest intentions?


I'd said "Hi" and smiled as I'd walked past him.

That's it.

He wouldn't have noticed me if I'd just ignored him like everybody else. But I didn't. I was nice.

Why do some people find it so provoking when others are being nice to them?

Youth Model Shotgun

Jordan Brown, an 11 year old boy from Pennsylvania killed his stepmother in their own home last week. An 11 year old killing someone is shocking enough, but what really blew me away was something ABC News reported today; the boy had "used his own youth model shotgun, a smaller-sized gun designed specifically for children."

I get that Americans have very different laws when it comes to guns compared to us Norwegians, but a "youth gun"? According to AOL, the gun, a "youth model 20-gauge shotgun" had been given to the boy by his father for Christmas. Less than two months later the boy used it to kill his father's girlfriend.

According to OCShooters.com, children should have guns for "shooting at targets, plinking at tin cans or starting to train for the Olympics." This of course makes it absolutely necessary to make guns especially for children. So even their little fingers can pull the trigger.

To quote blogger X Curmudgeon;

"What the hell is a youth model shotgun? Who would give an 11-year-old a shotgun? More insanity from the gun lobby. Why not make it legal for him to drink whiskey (a youth model) while we're at it."

What is it they say... "guns don't kill, people kill people".
Well stop giving people guns then!

If you're too young to make a life, you're too young to take one.

We've got an intruder

The past few weeks a man has been walking around the corridors of the student apartment building here at Gyldenpris, asking girls to borrow their computers to find a friend's address, or using other excuses to get inside their rooms.

A couple weeks ago he followed a girl into the laundry room and asked her "personal questions which were none of his business". According to an article in a paper today we're supposed to be worried. Especially girls and new students.

I can't say I'm feeling particularly scared at the moment, more like I wonder what he looks like, and if I met him I'd like to ask him "oh you're that guy, aren't you? And what exactly do you think you're doing here?" But maybe that's just me...

Either way, hopefully the newspaper, the radio and the tv coverage this has got (and I have to say "well done" to the guy (in the pic) who took over as student representative while I was away) must have scared the guy off. Probably for the best - no one wants to be trapped in the basement by a creepy guy...

Sgt. Eric Yonenson

Sometimes I check the junk folders of my various email addresses to see which new schemes the scammers have come up with. Today I came across this one;


Dear Friend, I am sending you this confidential
email after reading through your profile to make a passionate
appeal to you for assistance.

[classic request for assistance in moving money around]

I am Sgt. Eric Yonenson, I am an
American soldier with Swiss background, serving in the
military with the army 3rd infantry division. I am seeking your
kind assistance to move the sum of ($ 2 million u.s. dollars), this is no stolen
money, and there are no danger involved.

As a soldier I have no right to travel out of the camp until the peace has
restored in Iraq and I can not continue to face such pains
lost of lives and property hence I want to move this fund
through you for investment to enable me resign from this service.

Source of money: Some money in various currencies was
discovered in barrels at a farmhouse near one of Saddam"s
old palaces in Tikrit-Iraq during a rescue operation, and it was
agreed by staff Sgt Kenneth buff and I that some part of this
money be Shared among both of us before informing any body
about it since both of us saw the money first. This was quite an
illegal thing to do, but I tell you what? No compensation can make
up for the risk we have taken with our lives in this hell hole. Of
which my brother in-law was killed by a road side bomb.

[classic request for information, insuring the recipient of the email
that he or she will be rewarded when the transaction has been completed]

Please treat this with strict confidentiality.
Yours faithfully, Sgt. Eric Yonenson


I've never been particularly positive towards the military, in any country. I don't thinking going to war to create peace is ever going to truly work, it only creates more pain, death and hatred.

I do, however, believe that most soldiers do want to help, that they do what they can, in the only way they know how to. Not all are good people, and even those who are can make mistakes, just like the rest of us.


- But something like this is spammers sinking lower than I've seen before. I shouldn't be surprised, and I'm not - they send emails pretending to be doctors and presidents and aid workers who just want a little extra on the side. Actually, I would say pretending to be an aid worker stealing from the people they're trying to help is worse...

Is there any wonder people don't trust each other anymore?

Bagnapper

Walking along the road to the hostel, back from Ground Zero, a reggae club here in Wandegeya, J and I are talking about going to the zoo in Entebbe this weekend, when I feel something at my shoulder. Then there's someone tugging at my bag.
Instinctively my arm locked over it, I remember thinking "Wallet, key and I really like this bag so you're not getting it". The guy pulled on the bag and I pulled on the straps (I still can't believe they didn't break). He'd pulled me off the road and off my feet, I was still not letting go of my bag.

It can't have lasted many seconds before J managed to chase him off. When the guy was standing a few meters away, reluctant to give up but realizing he wasn't going to get this one, all I could think to do was shout "You ruined my new skirt!" (which must have seemed kinda funny to people around - a guy's trying to rob you and you're worried about your skirt getting dirty).
A man came and said the would-be robber must have been following us. He obviously wasn't expecting a fight.

I have a few cuts and bruises on my arm, leg, shoulder, side and butt (no, you're not getting pictures) but nothing too bad. I'm just glad my instincts said "fight" and not "give up". Like most girls, I do think about what I'd do if someone tried to snatch my bag, and remind myself to hold onto it, but this time I was anything but prepared. I didn't have a chance to think, I just knew what was happening.

Still, I don't even want to think about what would have happened if J hadn't been there - I guess he kinda saved me. I've never been saved before...

Someone stole my phone!

On my birthday!

I was walking along, looking for the market, when I decided there were so many people around I needed to put my phone inside the zipper of my bag (as opposed to in the side pocket over which I held my arm).

When I looked for it, it was gone!

I loved this phone, I never really wanted one in the first place but when I'd spent a month researching and decided on that one, and I got it for Xmas, I absolutely loved it - it was the nicest phone you could ask for. And now it's gone.

I got a new one, decided to go with the sleeker, more expensive one rather then the more bulky, cheap one. Now I just realized this one won't have Norwegian language so I'll have to get a new one anyway. *apples is having a dumb day*

I'm trying very hard not to think of everything I've lost - my photos and text messages I tried to save before on my laptop before I came here, and I think I succeeded (it wouldn't really cooperate). But all the phone numbers, the games (I had a really good one!), the recent messages... the music, the..... oh I really don't want to think about it :(

Weird crime in Bergen

Stole 15 jackets

While the residents were in the appartment, thieves sneaked in and stole 15 jackets from the hallway.

The theft was to have occured on Nygårdshøyden tonight.

Several of the jackets are supposed to have been expensive, and three of them have a total value of 12.000NOK (2300USD).

Police does not yet know who is behind the theft.

bt.no

I think the most expensive object I own is my laptop. Four years ago my parents paid my brother 5.000NOK (1.000USD) for it and gave it to me. Then again, its value today is close to zero.

The most expensive piece of clothing I own is a pair of pants from a few years ago that cost 600NOK (120USD) and which I don't wear anymore as they were worn out years ago.

The most expensive object of current value I have is probably... my camera... but again, it's 5 years old and the value is next to nothing. So I guess my my external hard drive (a MyBook). Two weeks old, worth about 900NOK (580USD). The most expensive piece of clothing must be a pair of shoes - about 400NOK (80USD).

What I'm trying to get at here, apart from the fact that I sound either very poor or very cheap, is: who the hell wears 4000 kroner (800 dollar) jackets and manages to lose 15 of them?!?

Jailed for microwaving his daughter

Where there is new technology, there will be new ways of torturing and killing people;

A US jury has sentenced a young father to 25 years in prison for burning his infant daughter by stuffing her in a microwave and turning it on for up to 20 seconds.

Just before putting her in the Galveston hotel-room microwave, Mauldin had punched the then two-month-old child and placed her in the room's safe and refrigerator.

[...]

Prosecutors said Mauldin hurt his daughter because he was angry that he was in a loveless marriage.

They also said Mauldin had a history of violence and of lying about being mentally ill to get out of trouble.

But defence lawyer Sam Cammack III said Mauldin has been wracked by mental illness since he was 10.

Mauldin claimed he started hallucinating when he was left alone in the hotel room with his daughter, feeling like mud was running up his body and consuming him.

When Ana [the child] was injured, Mauldin and his family had just moved to Galveston, Texas from Warren, Arkansas so he could become a preacher.

news.com.au

Crazy people...

Wanted by the FBI

Journalists Kurt Haugli and Christian Thorkildsen from Aftenposten.no are in the US to cover the nominations leading up to this years presidential election.

They will be writing articles and comments for the paper the following weeks, here's one of the first:

Wanted by the FBI
(OSLO-NEWARK CO 39): "What can I do for you?" asks a uniformed, and probably armed, security guard through the tall fence surrounding the American embassy in Oslo.

"Actually, I'm here to apply for a journalist visa." At this time I do not yet know the FBI is after me.

"Did you fill out the forms?"

"Yes", I said, and thought of the hours I'd spent filling out the elaborate forms with charming names such as: DS-156 and DS-157. The embassy should know most there is to know about me by now. (I've never been convicted of terror, have rarely been involved with genocides and my grandfather was not employed in nazi-Germany.)

Before showing up at 8:30am I'd studied the embassy's home page carefully. They can't remind you enough to remember everything.

Remember: One passport photo (2.5'' by 2.5'', ears
showing, do not smile). Also remember an envelope size A4 or C5, and exactly 68
kroner ($12.40) for stamps. Remember: If the forms are found to be missing
anything, you will be sent home. Remember: 750 kroner or exactly $131 in cash.
Remember!

It's obvious they don't want any forgetful scatterbrains visiting the US. Remember.

"Bring your forms and get in line," says the firm guard with the very proper haircut.

"Turn off your cell phone!"

"Turn off your laptop!"

"Hold out your hands!" By now I'm inside some sort of security booth.

I'm obedient, as a trained dog, some might say.

Cell phone, laptop and the rest of the contents of my bag is scanned and left in the booth. I'm told only the application forms will be brought inside the embassy. But what about the newspapers? The embassy's home page informed us of several hours waiting time, even for the simples errands. VG and Aftenposten can hardly be a threat to national security.

"No."

"No what? I can't bring my papers inside? I'll be waiting for hours in there?"

"Yes, that's right. But you can't bring newpapers."

Are they afraid I'll miraculously manage to cut someone with the paper? Or hit someone over the head with the sports section if the service is bad? Either way, I'll be hard through that bullet proof glass. I take comfort in the fact that a country which fears a couple of newspapers has to be worth visiting.

After an hour of waiting, without newspapers, it's finally my turn. My name is called from speaker. Behind a thick sheet of bullet proof glass is a nice women in her forties, speaking English into a microphone.

"How do you do, Mr. Thorkildsen," it squeeks.

"I'm good ma'm I reply," just like I've heard people do in the movies. I put my finger on the finger print scanner.

"Tell me, did you go to the United States in 2007?"

"No."

"Sure?"

"Yes. I think I would have remembered."

"Hmm... Well, you see, when I enter your name into the computer a warrant comes up. And your name, Thorkildsen, it is rare, you know. Not like Olsen or Hansen."

"True, true. But a warrant?"

"Yes, that is what it says. "Wanted by the FBI"."

Wow. The FBI. Then it's got to be serious. Luckily, the lack of a stamp in my passport confirms I did not visit the US in 2007. But the FBI? The last time I saw an American TV show, the FBI were involved in pretty serious cases. A simple prank wouldn't do it. As it happens, I did get yelled at once, for throwing an eighties party when I was studying in the US in 2004. Apparently the campus police felt it was bad form to serve alcohol to students no older than 20 years of age.

"Does it say why there is a warrant?" I ask.

"No, but luckily for you, Mr Thorkildsen, it seems this person is older, and the name is spelled somewhat different. So, since you did not go to the States in 2007, it can't be you, can it?"

"No, I guess not."

"Ok. Well, you can come back tomorrow and pick up your visa," the woman says and flashes a smile.

"Thanks."

I get a little blue note where it says "If you loose this ticket your visa may be delayed for two weeks." In other words: REMEMBER!

And yes, I did remember the little blue note and I did get my visa.


PS: If you have a name which looks like Christian Thorkildsen: You're wanted in the US. It would be nice if you could stop crapping on the name of us relatively law abiding Christian Thorkildsens. Those of us who aren't wanted by the FBI.





Written by Christian Thorkildsen January 28th, 6pm
for Aftenposten.no