Seriously?

Reuters reports that the British Home secretary (interior minister) Theresa May yesterday said, that Britain should consider leaving the European Convention on Human Rights because it interferes with the government's ability to fight crime and control immigration,

Theresa May, Minister of the Interior

May's Conservative Party has long criticized the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which enforces the convention, as an encroachment on British sovereignty.

Among other things the ECHR in January 2012 overruled the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on the issue of deporting the radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada to Jordan, where he is wanted on terrorism charges. The ECHR held that he could not lawfully be deported because a trial in Jordan could be tainted by evidence obtained under torture.

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Call me naive and clueless but the mere fact that a statement of this enormity can be made by a top politician in Europe, let alone Britain of all countries, feels like a kick in the balls and leaves me totally flabbergasted and gasping for breath with pain and astonishment. Admittedly Mrs. May is presumably trying to draw attention to herself as a future candidate to succeed David Cameron as the leader of Britain' s Conservative Party but surely there must be limits to the stupidity?

The Court applies the European Convention on Human Rights. Its task is to ensure that States respect the rights and guarantees set out in the Convention. I for one am extremely happy and relieved that the court exists and caries out the purpose for which it was created, however irritating it may be for the various purportedly democratic nations, courts or politicians.

Shame on you Mrs May! And shame also on the Conservative Party of Britain and Britain itself for making such sentiments convenient and possible among its leading representatives. 

The Swedish Battle for ESC 2013

The Swedish contribution for the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) 2013 was selected tonight.

The winner with 166 points was Robin Stjernberg with the song "You".


In second place, with 133 points, and the huge winner of the Swedish televotes, was YOHIO with the song "Heartbreak Hotel"


Robin owes his victory to the participation of International juries in the Swedish final (who's votes accounted for 50% of the votes). The juries voted for Robin as the winner while they had the domestic favorite, YOHIO, second to last in the 10 song line up with a 61 point difference. The difference proved to be too large for YOHIO to catch up.

Although I do not care that much, I would still like to thank the International juries for saving Sweden's bacon in the ESC 2013 finals on May 18 in Malmö, Sweden.

Formal Dances with BM

I have been lazy and self indulgent the last few days, but I came in-world for a short while this evening.

Seconds after I got in there was a group message about a dance at Big Momma's Ballroom with my buddy Kahvy as DJ, so I took the taxi there. When I arrived I realized that I was not dressed for the occasion, but they always let me get away with a lot at that venue so I stayed anyway. I did not regret it.

My friend BM asked me to dance with her and I accepted with great pleasure. We look nice together, don't you think?

Incomprehensible

I simply cannot understand it.

Why it is so difficult to accept that women must be granted equal opportunities and equal social, political and economical rights?

Why is it so difficult to understand that the systematic violence, abuse and oppression of women cannot and should not be socially acceptable?

Why is it so difficult to understand that women should be granted the rights to decide over their own bodies and their own sexuality?

Happy International Women's Day, may the struggle for an equal society be successful for the good of us all!

Necessary Clarification

My brother in-law Dej and I both feel it necessary to clarify, that although we both shower at least once a day this should not be taken as a sign that we lie more often than other men.

The correct interpretation of the comment "Men, they lie more than they shower!", is naturally that it in no way whatsoever refers to Dej or myself, but only to certain other men, the bad guys. Got it?

If you should wish a list of the bad guys, please contact Dej or myself and tell us where to fax it. Please note you will need at least 1,000 sheets of paper in the fax machine. An extremely small fee may be asked for to cover our inconvenience and time spent compiling the extensive list.

Hi-a-tus-es

Hi·a·tus  /haɪˈeɪtəs/ noun, plural hi·a·tus·es. (Dictionary.com)

The term hiatus has suddenly turned into a very popular word among my immediate family and friends in SecondLife. At this time I have five of those closest to me on a hiatus, they are my brother in-law Drey, my buddy Butch, my stepson Guyke, my sister Millimina and my buddy Ziggy. Their reasons for this decision vary.

Drey has just vanished and doesn't respond to messages, so his reasons are still unclear, but they usually occur when he has a lot of stuff going on in his first life.

Butch is on a sort of semi-hiatus because of first life occurrences. 

Guyke is on a hiatus to enjoy the feeling of cuddling up close to a warm man. 

Millimina is on one due to a busy first life also. 

And finally Ziggy because of painful health issues in first life - which are hopefully going to be taken care off by skillful surgeons of the Canadian Nation Health Care very soon.

In my humble (well maybe not all that humble...) opinion the five of them would be better off if they took a hiatus from their first lives instead of SecondLife, because their is no better place to be than in-world (preferably with me) if you want to relax from the stresses of a busy first life, as evidenced by the wonderful picture by Millimina that i am using in this post.

Guys Talking About Guys

Just before I was going to drop out to first life yesterday my beautiful brother in-law Dej logged in. I joined him for a short chat about life and men while we watched the sunset on Southern Charm.

Two men who love men talking about other men, who may or may not love men, is sometimes a bit confusing but fabulously profound and wickedly insightful, as it has the added value of us being men ourselves.

During our talk Dej told me he had read a comment on my blog that he didn't like and that he thought the guy who had written it could never have lost anyone he loved. When I told him that I did not remember the comment he was referring to, but that I believed that the man had told me that he had actually lost a love in his life. Dej snorted disparagingly, "Men, they lie more than they shower!"

Dej's comment made me laugh out loud, both because it surprised me and because it carried an element of truth. We have all met them, these men who rather than tell us the unadorned truth by some inner need are driven to embellish their stories in a completely unnecessary way.

One of these men is my own father, whom I love dearly and who never tell lies to people close to him because he knows we will spot it immediately. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard him go into a song and dance routine with a complete stranger or a salesperson at the door or in a shop somewhere rather than simply saying "No!" to them. When I have asked him about this strange and rather uncharacteristic habit of his - several times - he just shrugs and says "I wanted to give them an explanation, just to be polite or kind."