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commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

UPDATE: ...And removed.

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Insults and the right to free speech

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Bloggers all over are currently discussing the suggestion of a blogging code of conduct, where bloggers are required to refrain from insults and threats, or get their blogs yanked. The debate is generally anti-code, justified by the claim that it is freedom of speech to say what you want, and said freedom is protected by the US constitution. The thing is, we aren't discussing political blogs or racist blogs or pornographic blogs or blogs that in general have some kind of inflammatory material on them. We are discussing blogs much like my own: One person's personal outlet offered to the world because it's a rewarding thing to do (get to write, get to share, get feedback). But on some blogs, commenters are leaving insults and threats, including death threats. The general reaction to this, that I have seen so far, is if you can't tolerate some sicko comments on your blog, you are too sensitive for blogging so just stop blogging. Don't bitch about the internet being...
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I love you. Thank you.

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Some time last month, I was listening to a new spiritual podcast, and the speaker said that we can all heal ourselves and each other by stating, "I love you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you." Apparently, this series of four short statements healed all the patients of a psychiatric facility, simply by being uttered by a doctor while he was looking at the patient files. I was intrigued. So I googled the phrase and discovered it comes from a Hawaiian spiritual ritual called ho'oponopono .* I found a blogpost that described this "cleaning" process. I found an online article claiming that you can heal the whole planet with ho'oponopono because everything that comes into your sphere of experience is your responsibility.** I searched Amazon for books describing ho'oponopono. I bought Mable Katz 's book "The Easiest Way" .*** And her title may not be an exaggeration. After reading her short book, I have replaced my usual rit...
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How Norwegians make friends

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Norwegians make friends the same way porcupines mate: Carefully. In fact, they (the Norwegians, I mean) are so careful about it, I'm still not sure exactly how they do it. That was the short answer to Victoria's bafflement at Norwegian behavior. Victoria says: "[S]ome people are quite friendly and will smile or even chat a bit but I am still so surprised by the number of people who will either look right at you without cracking a smile or uttering a single word or will walk past you as if you don't exist." I'm sorry to say, but that aloofness is quintessentially Norwegian (and shared with the Swedes). The "cold north" isn't just a comment on the weather. Norwegians simply are not in the habit of nodding and smiling and saying hello to perfect strangers, and sometimes not even to anyone they've seen 518 times before. (If I want to shock someone I've passed in the neighborhood 518 times, all I have to do is greet them. They never s...
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