The Zimbabwean dictator lost the election but refuses to acknowledge defeat. I wouldn't be surprised if he is either on the run or preparing a massacre.

Stortorget in Stockholm at three o'clock yesterday afternoon.

According to a rumour picked up by The Economist, it could be a run for governor of New York.

Samantha Power's Atlantic essay on Zimbabwe from 2005 is still worth reading.

Zimbabwe's dictator-style president Robert Mugabe is seeking support in today's rigged election with war rhetoric, the Guardian reports.

Like so many mad African leaders before him, Mugabe refuses to take any responsibility for the failures of his regime. Instead, he blames the former colonizers for everything that has gone wrong in the twenty-eight years since he first came to power. No surprise really—losers always blame others for their shortcomings.

I promised a report on the Swedish Users Union's seminar on drug policy for today, but my schedule is full, so the writing has to wait. But I have a few pictures from the seminar to share with you.

The Users Union's poster reads, "Decriminalize now!"

Drug-policy expert Björn Johnson with the Users Union's vice-president Kikki Paulsrud.

Debate leader Widar Andersson with Users Union President Berne Stålenkrantz.

Jouko Lindgren of Narkomanvårdförbundet, Camilla Wallin of Lund University's Clinical Alcohol Research programme, liberal debater and blogger Louise Persson, and Dr Dolf Tops of Lund University.

I must say I am impressed by the event. It was much better than I had expected. For the first time in the fifteen years I have argued in favour of harm reduction and decriminalization, I have a strong feeling something good is about to happen in this country's attitude towards drug users.

Many thanks to Berne Stålenkrantz for inviting me!

When I arrived in Stockholm a few hours ago, this sign on Arlanda Airport met me. It's joke, but the people responsible for it don't know. If anything, Stockholm should be called the "Gateway to the North Pole". At least that's what I thought when I left the terminal building and was hit by the freezing winter outside. I had forgotten how much colder the winters are here.

Anyhow, I'm here for the Swedish Users Union's seminar on drug policy. Full report on Friday.

From Christopher Hitchens, God Is Not Great, Chapter 8:

If the New Testament is supposed to vindicate Moses, why are the gruesome laws of the Pentateuch to be undermined? An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and the killing of witches may seem brutish and stupid, but if only non-sinners have the right to punish, then how could an imperfect society ever determine how to prosecute offenders? We should all be hypocrites.

I never thought about this obvious conflict when I have read the Bible. I know a similar dilemma arises whenever Immanuel Kant's moral justification for punishment is discussed. According to the German philosopher, a criminal should be honoured the punishment equivalent to the action he is convicted of, which makes one wonder if no one but the victim can perform the actual punishment.

When I talk about evolution with creationists (yes, I know a few) they often refer to the lack of substantial transitional fossils as if a "missing link" in itself would prove Darwin wrong. "There is no evidence to suggest humankind derives from apes," they say. Well, I think I have found a picture I could present as evidence the next time the subject is discussed. Just compare this large, basket-carrying monkey with the shopaholics in your local supermarket. Only the fur tells them apart.

President Clinton wants to be seen as a pragmatic man, but in my opinion he manifests a lack of moral conviction. See for yourself:

The view from a window at the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies at Lund University in the quiet hour after lunch when the lecture rooms are full and the streets are empty.

I despise gay people and think they ought to be treated as second-hand citizens, but since the politically correct politicians have given in to the gay lobby and criminalized queer bashing, I play the victim instead.

He doesn't use these words, but in short, this is what Anders Svensson, an academic at Stockholm University, wants to say in an article published by Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet.

Tor Billgren has an in-depth analysis in Swedish here.

Look at him go!

Why do some people say bloggers are narcissists like it's a bad thing?

The person who named this lubricant "Boy Butter" is either a closet paedophile or a great humorist.

An American soldier reunited with his Iraqi love. They met in the war zone and now they jog on the beach.

And the cynics say the Iraq war is no good!

Someone has taken the classic sex doll to a whole new level. Lonely Trekkies everywhere are thrilled, I'm sure.

Shame on Network Solutions for giving in to Islamofascism.

Bertrand Russell:

The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as to seem not worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it.

After studying metaethics for a couple of semesters, I think I know exactly what Russell meant when he wrote this in his book The Philosophy of Logical Atomism.

Jag vet att det är som att mobba ett litet barn, men jag kan inte låta bli att citera klasskrigaren Nicklas Erikssons senaste blogginlägg:

Förra året mördades, deporterades och trakasserades hundratals fackliga kämpar runt om i världen, i liberala frihetshärdar som Colombia, Guatemala, Vitryssland, Kina, Dubai och Indonesien.

Om det vore sant att liberaler anser att dessa länder är "frihetshärdar" så hade jag kunnat förstå kamrat Erikssons besinningslösa hat. Men som alla vet är det rena fantasier. Visst, många liberaler tycker att Kinas tillväxt och företagsvänliga politik är imponerande på många sätt, så kanske är det det killen menar. Men Vitryssland!!!

According to Tony Buzan, author of The Speed Reading Book, the human brain process a text better when we read more than 400 words per minute. When we read at slower pace, the brain gets bored and our mind goes elsewhere.

The average adult reads about 250 words per minute, and so have much to gain from speeding up.

From the International Herald Tribune:

Filipinos including a 15-year-old were nailed to crosses and scores more whipped their backs into a bloody pulp on Friday in a gory ritual to mark the death of Jesus Christ.

The voluntary crucifixions in the northern Philippines were the most extreme displays of religious devotion in this mainly Catholic country, where millions are praying and fasting ahead of the Easter weekend.

In the small village of Cutud, about 80 km (50 miles) north of Manila, men cried out as nails the size of pencils were driven into their hands and feet before they were hoisted up in the scorching heat. Eight went through the process. Eleven backed out, organisers said.

Imagine if anyone had organized events like this in any other context than religious ones. A friend of mine once defined religion as organised insanity. When I read about things like the event in the Philippines yesterday, I'm inclined to agree.

Being an immigrant in America blows:

No problems so far, the immigration agent told the American citizen and his 22-year-old Colombian wife at her green card interview in December. After he stapled one of their wedding photos to her application for legal permanent residency, he had just one more question: What was her cellphone number?

The calls from the agent started three days later. He hinted, she said, at his power to derail her life and deport her relatives, alluding to a brush she had with the law before her marriage. He summoned her to a private meeting. And at noon on Dec. 21, in a parked car on Queens Boulevard, he named his price—not realizing that she was recording everything on the cellphone in her purse.

"I want sex," he said on the recording. "One or two times. That's all. You get your green card. You won't have to see me anymore."

She reluctantly agreed to a future meeting. But when she tried to leave his car, he demanded oral sex "now," to "know that you're serious." And despite her protests, she said, he got his way.

Jacob Sullum:

Yesterday I noted that the New Hampshire House of Representatives has voted to decriminalize possession of up to a quarter ounce of marijuana. (You can read more about that bill at the website of the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy.) NORML notes that the Vermont Senate approved a similar bill last month, with a one-ounce limit. If those bills succeed, New Hampshire and Vermont would join the 12 states that already have made possessing small quantities of marijuana a noncriminal violation, typically punishable by a modest fine.

[...]

In short, "decriminalization" in the sense of lenience toward marijuana users has been the policy in many jurisdictions for years, without any obvious negative repercussions. Furthermore, large majorities of Americans tell pollsters that pot smokers should pay a fine rather than go to jail. Is this policy really so controversial that Barack Obama had to back away from his support for it?

Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), is an arrogant liar who knows nothing about the Dutch drugs policy. Yet people are applauding him for being ignorant. Unfortunately, this is typical behaviour for moralistic prohibitionists.

(Via Fajaf Blog.)

I have some problem with my archives at the moment. Hopefully it will be solved shortly. If you can't find the entry you are looking for, I suggest you try the search page.

This is what we Mac owners like to hear:

There are hundreds of thousands of viruses and other malicious software programs floating around for Windows, but less than 200 are known to target the Mac, and many of those are aimed at versions of the Mac OS prior to Mac OS X (and thus have no effect on a modern Mac).

However, things may not stay that way as Apple gains some market share. But rest assured, computer security expert Rich Mogull has some free advice for Mac users.

From Rasmussen Reports:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows John McCain's lead growing against both potential Democratic opponents. McCain currently leads Barack Obama 49% to 42% and Hillary Clinton 51% to 41% margin (see recent daily results).

Wouldn't surprise me if he wins the whole thing.

Anti-gay Oklahoma state legislator Sally Kern should read this. I bet she won't, but she should.

Background here.

I just remembered it's fourteen years ago today I stopped smoking. After nearly a decade of smoking I gave it up on Maundy Thursday 1994. That day I went from heavy smoker to overeater, so now I have a weight problem instead of a tobacco problem.

Speaking of nutty things to do.

I just read that American swimmer Michael Phelps has tattooed the Olympic rings on his hip. A bit nutty, but I suppose it makes sense for someone who has spent his entire life longing for the games. And who am I to judge; I tattooed a part of Amsterdam's coat of arms on my right arm when I was in my twenties. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Anyhow, this gave me an excuse for posting a picture of Phelps.

Muammar Qaddafi: "Those people in Scandinavia are attacking the same Prophet sent to them. They are ignorant. They are sick. They are racist and they are against Allah, Issa, Musa, because they all believed in Him [Muhammad]."

If you run in to some Jews that seem happier than usual today—that is Purim for you. In his book Essential Judaism, George Robinson describes Purim as the Jewish equivalent to Mardi Gras. I prefer to think of the holiday as Jewish Pride.

Purim is celebrated in memory of Queen Esther, a beautiful Jewish woman who, with the help of her uncle, averts the destruction of the Jews by marrying the king of Persia and thwarting the evil design of Haman, one of the royal councillors and a fanatic anti-Semite.

Seen in picture is a gragger, which is a noisemaker used every time Haman is mentioned during the reading of the Meglliah (Book of Esther).

In an audio recording posted on the Internet yesterday, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden threatens to punish the European Union for the publication of cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad. "Your publications of these drawings—part of a new crusade in which the Pope of the Vatican had a significant role—is a confirmation from you that the war continues," he said.

I wouldn't be surprised of the hunted Danish cartoonist will end up dead. It only takes one determined fanatic.

From Reuters:

The U.S.-based IntelCenter, a terrorism monitoring firm, said the message was "a clear threat against EU member countries and an indicator of a possible upcoming significant attack, however, it is unclear in exactly what timeframe it may occur."

Bin Laden said the publication of the cartoons was a graver offence than the "bombing of modest villages that collapsed over our women children", in reference to U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan with European participation. "This is the bigger catastrophe ... for which the punishment is graver."

"Animosity among people is very old but wise people ... have always been keen on maintaining the manners of disagreement and the ethics of fighting ... but you have abandoned many of these ethics although you use them as slogans," he said.

Bin Laden said Europe was intentionally targeting Muslim women and children at the behest of their "unjust ally who is close to departing the White house".

He said "brutality" had not defeated Muslims and made them determined to "avenge our folk and eject the invaders from out countries."

A U.S. counterterrorism official said the authenticity of the recording was under examination but added it was in line with "al Qaeda's ongoing propaganda effort."

The cartoons were first published by the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten in September 2005 but a furor erupted only after other newspapers reprinted them in 2006.

And:

On February 13 several Danish newspapers published one of the cartoons in solidarity with the cartoonist after three men were arrested on suspicion of plans to kill him.

One of the cartoons shows a man described as Islam's prophet wearing a turban with a bomb in its folds.

At least 50 people were killed in the protests against the cartoons, which Muslims say are an affront to Islam. Newspapers which printed them say they are defending media freedom.

Sajjan Gohel of the Asia-Pacific Foundation, a London-based security think-tank, said the message did not necessarily signal an imminent attack in Europe but was a "statement of intent".

"A bin Laden message doesn't necessitate countries in Europe increasing their threat levels. The reason why they would do that is based on actual intelligence," he said.

"But when Osama bin Laden talks, people listen—his supporters and constituents throughout the world are motivated by his words and want to turn them into action... Europe has become the battleground for al Qaeda."

European countries singled out by al Qaeda in the past include Britain, Spain, Italy and Denmark. The new message is likely to cause particular concern to Denmark.

Bin Laden's attempt to stoke Christian-Muslim tensions, by evoking the crusades, also comes as the Netherlands braces for the expected release on March 28 of a film about Islam by a right-wing politician who has called the Koran a "fascist" book.

Tensions over the film prompted the Dutch to raise their terrorism threat level earlier this month.

The opposition and three out of four parties of the Swedish government coalition wants to legalize same-sex marriages. The only political party in Parliament to oppose a reform is the tiny Christian Democrats.

While the Christian Right tries to kill the issue in an interminable going-nowhere quasi-debate, an increasing number of people get frustrated over the lack of progress. To legalize same-sex marriage should not be a problem in a Sweden. A massive majority of 71 per cent support it, and in Parliament, 325 out of 349 MPs are in favour of granting same-sex couples the right to marry. The only problem is twenty-four Christians who threaten to leave government if gays are allowed to tie the knot.

Now I learn that the socialist opposition parties have taken an initiative. In a letter, they are urging nine liberal and conservative MPs to vote in favour of their marriage bill on 16 April. The bill will pass if only four of these MPs have the guts to rebel against the Prime Minister's fawning on the Christian Right.

I know some of these MPs and would urge them to do it. Vote in favour of love and equality, and ignore the bigoted theocrats! If the Christian Democrats want to make a big deal about it afterwards—let them.

More in Swedish here and here.

In a televised speech yesterday, Polish President Lech Kaczynski said he opposes the Lisbon Treaty because it would push Poland towards legalization of same-sex marriage. To illustrate the president's fear of gays getting married, Polish television broadcast footage of an American couple's wedding ceremony in Canada.

More in English here and here. More in Polish here.

My gay-lobbyist colleague Tor Billgren has published a hate speech made by Oklahoma state legislator Sally Kern. Until now, she was best known for her attempts to promote creationism and rid libraries of books that have homosexual themes. Now, however, everyone will know her for saying that same-sex love is a greater danger to the American society than terrorism.

Kern's speech has become a big hit on the Internet, and now I paste it here:

The homosexual agenda is destroying this nation, okay? It's just a fact. Not everybody's lifestyle is equal, just like not all religions are. You know, the very fact that I'm talking to you like this here today puts me in jeopardy, okay? And I'm not anti- and I'm not gay bashing, but according to God's Word, that is not the right kind of lifestyle. It has deadly consequences for those people involved in it. They have more suicides, they're more discouraged, there's more illness, their lifespans are shorter, you know, it's not a lifestyle that is good for this nation.

As a matter of fact, studies show that no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than, you know, a few decades. So it's the death knell for this country. I honestly think it's the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam, which I think is a big threat.

Because what's happening now, they're going after, in schools, two year olds! Do you know what they're trying to get into early childhood education? They want to give our young children into the government schools so they can indoctrinate them. I taught school for close to twenty years. And we're not teaching facts and knowledge anymore folks. We're teaching indoctrination, okay? And their going after our young children, as young as two years of age to try to teach them that the homosexual lifestyle is an acceptable lifestyle.

You know, gays are infiltrating city councils. Did you know, Eureka Springs, anybody been there, the passion play? Okay, have you heard that the city council of Eureka Springs is now controlled by gays? Okay? There are some others, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Takoma, Maryland; Kennsington, Maryland; in Vermont, Oregon, West Palm Beach, Florida; in a lot of other places in Florida. What's happening? They are winning elections.

One of the things I deal with in our legislature, I tried to introduce a bill last year that would notify parents, schools had to let parents know what clubs their students were involved in. And the reason I did that bill primarily was this: We have the gay-straight alliance coming into our schools. Kids are getting involved in these groups, their lives are being ruined, their parents don't know about it. So I introduced a bill, you have to notify all clubs and things.

And one of my colleagues said you know, we don't have a gay problem in my county, that's why I voted against that bill. Well you know what? To me that is so dumb. If you got cancer or something in your little toe, do you say, you know, I'm just going to forget about it because the rest of me's fine. It spreads, okay? And this stuff, it's deadly and it's spreading and it will destroy our young people, it will destroy this nation.

Ludicrous conspiracy theories. Europeans will recognize these ideas from the anti-Semitic movement that nearly destroyed our continent. Gays are the Jews of America.

But what, apart from religious bigotry, can spark this anger towards gay people? Well, according to some, Kern's frustration might have something to do with her own son being gay. I don't know if this is true, but the buzz in the American blogosphere seems to suggest that it is.

Anyhow, Ellen DeGeneres wants to talk things through with Ms Kern, but unfortunately, her voice mail is full:

It's so silly you have to laugh about it.

Postscript: The anti-gay lobby now takes the opportunity to turn criticism of Kern's hate speech into death threats. They seek the same victimhood whenever they cannot cope with the anger of the very same people they wish to exterminate. But these claims are false and serve only as part of a game where the goal is to gain public sympathy for the hatemonger.

According to a new opinion poll by ICM, the British Labour party is at a 24-year low. The Conservatives has a thirteen per cent lead. Most political commentators seem to think the slump is caused by widespread economic fears, but I think it has more to do with Gordon Brown being the most tiresome and boring prime minister since John Major left office in 1997. The man is a walking near-death experience.

That might be the result of the Democratic Party's decision not to grant a re-election in Florida. Hillary Clinton won Florida's primary election, but since the "Sunshine State" lost its delegates after violated party rules, she gain nothing from it. However, now things just might go her way. The party's central Rules and Bylaws Committee has to make a final decision on what to do with Florida's representation at the party convention. If the earlier decision were revoked, it would be a huge victory for the Clinton camp—it might even give Hillary the presidency.

From the New York Times:

The Florida Democratic Party chairwoman on Monday officially buried the possibility of redoing the state's disputed January presidential primary, saying there was no practical or affordable way to conduct a new election.

The chairwoman, Karen L. Thurman, essentially threw up her hands after failing to secure approval for a new election from state officials or the campaigns of Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

She said in a statement late Monday that party officials in Florida had proposed such a plan last week. It was unceremoniously shot down, she said.

"Thousands of people responded," Ms. Thurman said. "We spent the weekend reviewing your messages, and while your reasons vary widely, the consensus is clear: Florida doesn't want to vote again. So we won't."

The decision leaves the fate of the state's 211 Democratic convention delegates in limbo, with no plan on the table for determining whether or how they will be seated at the Democratic National Convention in August. Ms. Thurman said the matter would now go back to the national party's Rules and Bylaws Committee — the same body that stripped Florida and Michigan of delegates in the first place.

Florida and Michigan lost their delegates because they violated party rules by holding primaries early. Mrs. Clinton won both contests by substantial margins, but no delegates have been awarded.

If you read this and other blogs on a daily basis you're probably suffering from a mental disorder:

An editorial to be published in the American Journal of Psychiatry argues that Internet addiction is a common compulsive-impulsive disorder that should be added to psychiatry's official guidebook of mental disorders.

Report author Dr. Block defines Internet addiction as including "excessive gaming, sexual pre-occupations and e-mail/text messaging." Block says that those suffering internet addiction experience cravings, urges, withdrawal and tolerance, requiring more and better equipment and software, or more and more hours online. Further, internet addicts can lose all track of time or neglect "basic drives," like eating or sleeping; Relapse rates are high, and some people may need psychoactive medications or hospitalization.

I wonder if the same diagnosis could apply to those who frequently read books and newspapers. Maybe we will see bookworms hospitalized in the near future; people who can't stay away from the latest John Grisham suspense novel will find themselves locked up in the loony bin?

"World takes notice of Swedish prostitute laws," the Independent writes.

Let the world take notice, but I truly hope no other country implements similar laws. Prostitution should be legal. Not because we all should love it, but because criminalization makes sex workers vulnerable to violence and organized crime.

(Via Henrik Alexandersson.)

I just read this in The Local:

Hundreds of protesters gathered in towns across Sweden on Saturday to demonstrate against the continued US presence in Iraq five years after the invasion.

Hundreds? The organizers promised mass rallies against America but couldn't even muster a mere thousand. Pathetic.

Blogge wants to know whom I would choose if I were forced to have sex with a woman and could pick anyone. Although I rarely think about women that way, one woman came to mind when I did.

I would want France's new First Lady to be my woman for a day. Her name is Carla Bruni, she is a singer and model, and she married President Nicolas Sarkozy only last month.

Irshad Manji is without a doubt one of the most interesting religious thinkers in contemporary Islamic discourse. She personifies the modernity that is so often overshadowed by fundamentalist morons who long for a theocratic society based on mediaeval thinking. Ms Manji is also a proud lesbian who used to host her own show on Canadian television. Like most outspoken gay people, she received some hostile mail from religious people. When I looked through her blog I found this example:

I am writing to inform you that the one and only real God, the God of the Bible, make its painfully clear that all Sodomites (meaning homosexuals or like deviants by your warped terminology) have forsaken their humanity for their deranged, perverted, evil lusts. Thereby, they have become abominations, no longer human, and are to be executed immediately according to Leviticus and Deuteronomy, among countless other aspects of the Bible.

The subsequent fate of anyone who commits these sickening acts is an eternity in an unbearable Hell. Contrived propaganda by your repugnant ilk can never prevail over the perfect word of God. Even Jesus Himself directly decreed that anyone so reprobate as to abandon all moral grounding to gratify his own despicable, insane lusts will burn in Hell unquestionably, Luke 17:43.

There are several verses I could cite, all direct and indisputable, because all succinctly condemn Sodomites in whatever context one purports to place them.

A final word: 'If a man so lieth with mankind as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death and their blood shall be upon them.'—God.

People have sent me similar letters and emails over the past fifteen years, but I rarely send a reply. I know some people hate me, and it does not bother me. However, the next time someone write to tell me what a horrible sinful and despicable person I am for loving another man, I will reply with a link to Manji's answer to her letter-writing antagonist:

Dear brother:

Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed message. However, in your almost-thorough explanation of my disease-ridden immorality, you failed to mention what version of the Bible you're quoting.

As everyone knows, there are several versions and some differ in wording. So, for instance, the final verse you cite has been expressed in other translations of the Bible as "if a man lieth with boys as with a woman..."—ie. a decree against pedophilia, not homosexuality. (Of course, to you these may be one and the same, but that's another debate for another time.)

Similarly, in earlier (and thus less corrupted) translations of the Bible, sodomy referred to inhospitality towards neighbors, not to sexual deviancy. Ditto for German editions versus English ones.

We can disagree about the validity of one interpretation over the other, but the fact that alternate interpretations have been presented throughout Christendom is beyond dispute. See, for example, The Parallel Bible, which offers at least four differing translations for every verse in scripture.

If you have the definitive word of God, how do you explain these incongruities? And how do you know that YOURS is the most accurate interpretation?

Via Blogge, Funny Chill, and Joey deVilla.