Quote of the Week

Justice is incidental to law and order.

Havelock Vetinari J Edgar Hoover

Awesome ad

Yeah, I know, I try to avoid using the word 'awesome' if at all possible ... but I just couldn't resist the alliteration. :-) Check out this fantastic ad. I love it. I've never been to Milwaukee, although the city has a place in my consciousness because two of my all time favorites have such strong connections to it - my favorite serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, committed most of his murders there, and my favorite pianist*, Liberace, was from there. Now I'm thinking I'd like to go there and visit the library. I like it there already. :-) 

*OK, let's say favorite male pianist, and let him share the honors with Ingrid Bjørnov. :-)

Very good book

That I'm reading right now. Or, OK, listening to. Very well read by the actor Ron Silver. The Plot Against America, a novel by the relatively prolific American writer Philip Roth. It's the first time I've read anything by him, and I have to say it definitely won't be the last - this is a fantastic book. It's an alternate history kind of thing, set in a 1940s US where FDR didn't win his third term, but was defeated by Charles Lindbergh. Roth's Lindbergh character carries his real world counterpart's isolationist ideas over into politics, makes a deal with Hitler, and allows antisemitism to proliferate. The main characters are a Jewish family in Newark, based on Roth's own personal history. It's really fascinating. He brings it all to life so well. And he highlights something very important - something we all should keep in mind.

An elected government that wishes to turn the state it governs fascist, does not at any point have to take any single action that a reasonable citizen cannot accept and agree with.

My phrasing ... I hope it makes sense. Also hope you will read this book. :-)

Speaking of wonderful writers, I hope you've all caught the amazing Google logo today!! As I'm sure you all realized immediately ;-) it's in honor of the birthday of the one and only Jules Verne. Rockin'. :-)

I made her day!!

I love Postcrossing ... !! :-)

Here is a great example of why. I got this address on Wednesday last week ... Sarah lives in Massachusetts and IMO has a really good profile. She makes it easy to pick a card for her, and she makes it fun to do so, too. I always try my best to pick a card the recipient will love - that's a big part of the fun of it for me - but sometimes it really isn't easy. If you're on Postcrossing, please make sure your profile is filled out and gives a good impression of you and your interests! It makes it SO much easier to find the perfect postcard for you! :-)

Anyway ... I thought of probably about a dozen cards that I could send to Sarah. :-) But looking at her favorites wall, I found this card ... and then I just immediately knew which one to pick. This one:
Johnny Depp photographed in 1990 by Herb Ritts. It took me forever to find it (I have soo many postcards now ... don't start ...) but I knew I had it somewhere and I did finally find it. It arrived today - she just registered it half an hour ago, and she immediately added it to her favorites. In the email I got letting me know that it had arrived, she says she loves it and I made her day. Now that is why Postcrossing is so awesome!! Sarah, if you read this, you made my day with your message. :-)

The card's already been favorited three times in just this short while. Whee! :-D

Fuckin' democracy, how does it work

Yesterday's so-called election in the US showcases the fundamental problem with democracy: the fact that most people are idiots. But hey, who cares, they aren't voting anyway! 40% voter turnout, and that's supposed to be the greatest democracy on earth? Give me a fucking break.

I wonder what kind of campaign would have been run and how the general feeling would have been over there if Obama had been entirely white, and not just half. But of course that could never be more than a thought experiment.

In one way this is a good thing for the Democrats ... it will be extremely hard for the Republicans to pretend that events over the next two years are nothing to do with them (cause you know that everything that's gone wrong from 2000 till now is Clinton's fault; seriously, people believe that) and so when the next presidential election comes along the Democrat will have a head start and will probably make it by the skin of his teeth. Or hers. The US is in a dangerous downward spiral, they're heading for the edge, and if they can even be pulled out of this tailspin then that's a process that will take years. I don't understand what these so-called voters ... retarded dipshit idiots, whatever ... are thinking ... the Republicans have run the country into the ground, now it turns out that the Democrats don't have magic powers and there isn't a button to push that will make everything alright ... so now they want to put the Republicans back in power again. I perceive a hole in this logic.

I don't think the average American really has any idea how completely screwed they are. How deep the shit is that they are in fact in. I suspect that a lot of them really believe that there is some kind of quick fix that can pull them out of it. It's kind of sad. But on the other hand, they do in some ways deserve it. My sympathy is limited. But of course I shouldn't feel that way, I should feel empathy for the American people, they are the victims of a propaganda war and a dangerously shoddy school system. But, meh, they ruin it with all their bragging and dumbassery.

Anyway, where was I. Oh yeah, since the Republicans are the ones who mostly created this mess, and since they clearly say that they want to carry on the policies that led to it, it doesn't seem very sensible to give them the chance to screw things up even further. But the irony is that the Democrats can't fix it either. I don't understand why people think that they can? Republicans, Democrats, it's the same thing. Why are they perceived as being so different that it's all but tearing a nation apart? They agree on literally everything that really matters. And they're both shit and neither of them will get the US out of the mess that it's in.

It's like ice cream, you know? People may perceive a difference, but there isn't really one. Do you want vanilla or do you want chocolate? In your head those two may be different, but to your body, nutrition-wise, it's the same worthless crap.

The very model!

Check out this video. I love it. People are so creative! :-) And this is so true, too. I really wonder at those who are saying - and who apparently genuinely believe - that president Obama has accomplished nothing. What do they think he is, a wizard? Apparently so. He isn't, though. Alas. But he is the very model of a modern US president!! :-D



Fullscreen here.

O.M.F.G.

There is something so seriously wrong with Americans. o_O

I don't know if it's their culture or what it is. But they are so messed up. That's like something I know for a fact, but it's at the back of my mind most of the time, I don't normally think about it. But then sometimes something happens, I see or hear something that just makes me go ... O.M.F.G.

Check this out. I landed on this site from a post on the Atheist Experience blog ... it's about how Martin, one of the contributors over there, got to be on TV this week. He was interviewed about a billboard that an organization he's also a member of - or so I assume - called the Coalition of Reason has put up alongside a highway somewhere in Texas. There's a photo in the article I linked to.

In his AE blog post about the interview, Martin says that he'd be happy for people to participate in the discussion of the article at the website of whatever media outlet this was that interviewed him. So I went ... not to discuss, I don't want to waste my time on it (sorry, but not my country, not my problem). Just to see what was being said. The usual mix of Xian windbags foaming at the mouth and skeptics talking to brick walls. But it's an automatic function in the discussion arrangement on the site that has me so flabbergasted. Do you see it? WTF is up with that??

Just in case you don't see it ... or you can't be bothered to read through six pages of comments to find it (the first example is on page 5 of the comments currently) ... I'll tell you what it is. OMFG. The comment function automatically censors some word combinations, apparently. Something which I have never ever ever seen in any online discussion in this part of the world. But look closely. I could maybe, possibly, understand it if they blanked out fuck and a few other words like that. But look. In those comments, the noun form of the verb to document comes out like this:

do[censored]entation

Because it has the word cum in it. o_O

OMFG. The land of the free my shiny metal ass.

Any Americans reading this: I don't know what it is exactly, but something is seriously fucked up over where you're at, people.

Worthless parents ...

... get worthless kids.

I was watching one of these shows on TV earlier tonight, a documentary about beauty pageants for little girls. Babies, even. Only in America would you have a girl show herself off in swimwear on stage before she's learned to walk. Yuck. But it really struck me what total lack of insight some parents suffer from. There was this one couple (where the husband was so obviously gay it was ridiculous) who had a two year old daughter who just 'loved' doing pageants. The mother tried to get the kid to hold up a couple of her trophies and say Ava loves trophies! or something like that ... she couldn't even get her to understand what she was supposed to do. And then she immediately went on to say that her daughter was soo committed to her pageant participation, she just loved doing it and would go on stage and just give 110%. WTF? Talk about confirmation bias ... ! I just don't understand how it's possible to as a parent be so blind. o_O

And sometimes that has infinitely worse effects than some kids just being raised like living dolls. In Sweden right now there's a criminal case that's shaking the nation ... and it really is appalling, they should be reeling. It was broken open by Uppdrag granskning, which is a wonderful investigative TV show. It's like the Swedish answer to 60 Minutes. I watched the show on Wednesday, The Second Rape, and it really was appalling and shocking. I hardly know where to start, there is so much to criticize there that it's almost overwhelming.

Brief recap: 14-year-old girl is raped by 15-year-old boy on school grounds during school hours. She goes to the police, they investigate, the boy confesses and is eventually found guilty as charged. But in the small community where these teens lived (the girl has since moved away), the convicted rapist is celebrated and the victim is brutally slandered. I mean, it almost defies belief ... slander in the community and beyond slander online. The rapist's brother set up a website for him all about the kid's innocence, and of course the comments came pouring in ... I'm talking gross death threats, seriously, it's been on that level. The girl lost almost all her friends and was bullied half to death. At the graduation celebration in the local church she did not attend, but her attacker did ... he was welcomed to the church even though there was of course a restraining order against him, and his victim might well have been there. He gave out flowers to his schoolmates and was applauded [!!]. Then during a beach party the same night, again a graduation celebration, he raped another girl! He's been tried for this as well and found guilty. But still the community supports him, and the second victim is being called 'cunt' to her face by random people in the streets. (She was 17 years old, the boy is now 16 and in a juvenile institution.) There were some interviews in the show that just beggared belief.

The vicar in this parish ought to be fired from his job. He is a complete & utter idiot. Get this: he claimed not to have known about the second rape, which took place the same day that he welcomed this convicted rapist into his church and felt that it was 'a powerful demonstration'. o_O Nope, never heard of it. Then the reporter asked what his opinion of the situation was now that he did know about it. This devoted servant of god actually managed to say the following: Poor boy. I mean ... what a total piece of shit. Both of them.

The bullying online has been ongoing the entire time, now against both girls. But of course after the show aired the tide has completely turned ... now it's the boy's family who are getting the death threats. Cowards that they are, they have removed their website. The Facebook group (now deleted) supporting the boy had 4 000 members, the one supporting the girls (only just created this week) already has something like 50 000 members. Death threats are bad, but I can't make myself feel sorry for this family. WTF is wrong with this mother??

As a general rule, although there may be exceptions (some people may be just born 'bad'), IMO, when your son is a twice-convicted rapist at age 16, you have failed as a mother. If your son at age 15 forces a young girl to the floor, straddles her, holds her arms down, forces her jaws apart and shoves his dick down her throat after she has asked him to 'please stop', according to his own statement, five or six times ... then you have failed as a mother. And reading an interview with the mother in Aftonbladet, I see that she's not even ashamed of it, and is continuing to fail her child. Of course I believe my son is innocent. She's going to keep fighting for her son, as apparently she feels is her duty as a mother. o_O

Now, I don't have any kids, and I don't want any either, but seriously, if I had one, I really hope that I would have the brains and the ethical stamina and just the common decency to make my child take responsibility for his or her own actions. How does it help to deny reality?? She's probably setting the kid up to become a serial rapist - just one more to go, and he's there. He's a criminal. Her mollycoddling is quite possibly what made him one, and she's only going to make it worse by insisting on treating him like her golden boy still.

Now, as we know, I am so prejudiced. Just bursting with prejudice, I am. But the photo that has been published of this woman ... When I see a grown up white woman with all her hair in afro braids like this, that just screams white trash to me. There's been no mention whatsoever of a father, so she may well be a single mother to these boys. Red flags just going up all over the place. Her kids have the deck stacked against them to start with ... and she is determined to make it worse.

Worthless parents, worthless kids. Hard to know where to start to fix the problem. :-(

One more thing: Amanda Ögren, one of the very few people who has stood by the first victim through all of this, is a true hero. She deserves a medal. She is 15 years old and she has done something that IMO most adults would not have had the strength to do. I mean, Q.E.D. People like her restore my faith in humanity. :-)

Stupid Americans

Yeah yeah, I know that there's 300 million of them and they're not all the same, whatever.

I saw something interesting on teletext a couple of days ago (and that's another stupid thing, they don't have teletext!?) about an American government agency - I think it was some official body, but I may be remembering it wrongly - that had done some kind of assessment of I don't know what, racism in Europe? And we basically came out badly because we're so mean to the Muslims. Boo fucking hoo. Islamophobia, I'm so sick of that term. Supposedly, according to this agency, many European nations need to get a grip on things now because the persecution of Muslims is escalating. Freedom of religion is being restrained, ooh, scary. They mentioned the minaret ban in Switzerland as an important example, apparently. Seriously stupid.

But what makes it grade A dumbness is that the same report that says we need to be more understanding of Muslims and let them be freer in the expression of their beliefs or whatever also warns against increasing anti-semitism in Europe. o_O How stupid can you get?? That is because of the Muslims! When you let Muslims be free to express their beliefs, they persecute Jews! Give me a break. How does anyone do research into this and not know that?? o_O

Then there's another story too, more American stupidity. Philip Morris, purveyor of death, is suing the Norwegian state because of a new law that took effect here on January 1st, according to which no tobacco products can be displayed in stores. I think specialty stores are exempt, ie stores that only sell tobacco. But there can't be more than a handful of those in this entire country. This law applies to grocery stores and newsagents and places like that. They can no longer display cigarettes and related products, they have to store these in opaque cabinets. Philip Morris is against this because, so they claim, it makes competition difficult in this market. I mean, like anyone cares. They think the law should be overturned because it doesn't stop people buying cigarettes anyway. But the stupid thing is that they claim that they think they have a good case. The law's only been in effect for a couple of months here, so it's too soon to tell if it will have any impact or not, but apparently when a similar law was passed in Iceland some years ago, tobacco sales did not go down.

So, Philip Morris want our law gone, because it'll hinder their sales, and their reasoning is that we might as well get rid of it because it doesn't affect their sales anyway. o_O Did no one read through this strategy before they went public with it? But hey, I won't be against anything that means they'll throw a lot of money away on nothing. Stupid Americans.

Nobel Peace Prize, bah humbug

So, Barack Obama's in town right now, picking up his sadly undeserved Peace Prize. One hundred million crowns down the drain, if you ask me. It makes me sad to see all this tremendous security that apparently the Americans think is necessary for their president. I mean, it probably is. But that's what's so sad. Our king can walk from the Palace to go to the movies with a regular audience if he wants, and there's no barriers erected and no manhole covers needing to be welded shut ... just a couple of cops out of uniform and, from what I hear, usually the queen. :-) I like Norway. :-)

Anyway. To mark the occasion, such as it is, I'd like to share a couple of videos I've made from a recent video to the Nobel Peace Center here in Oslo. The first shows one of the permanent exhibits, the Nobel Field. It's both interesting and beautiful, so take a look. :-) The second shows the temporary exhibition From King to Obama, which is dedicated to the great Martin Luther King Jr and to Barack Obama. The exhibiton shows a lot of information about both men's careers and background, and about the times in which they lived and live. (Please don't get shot here, Mr President. ;-) It was quite interesting, I'm glad I saw it. I especially liked all the black and white photos from Dr King's career and significant events around the US in his lifetime.





I was actually downtown when he greeted the crowds from the balcony at Grand Hotel (encased in bulletproof glass, of course o_O) but there were so many people there that I didn't see a thing. :-D I normally wouldn't have been there - I'd have had a much better view watching TV at home ;-) - but I had to be there anyway ... Anne Ida and I had tickets to Rune Andersen's show at Latter, so we had to be around. :-) The show was great, see it if you get the chance. Andersen is such a funny guy ... his Lars Monsen impression was priceless. And Espen Beranek Holm doing Erling Lægreid was just too funny, I mean, wow. Spot on. :-D My face still hurts from laughing so hard. :-)

In closing, a quote that seems appropriate today.

Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.
Ernest Hemingway

I hope that Obama will keep that in mind. :-(

Welcome to Norway, Mr President!!

Hey, man, we're happy to see you even though your visit will mean a total lockdown situation in our capital and at our main airport, and even though we will have to spend millions to prevent crazy people from shooting you. But if you want to have Norwegian plates on your car while you're here - for about 24 hours, of which you will be driving one, maybe one and a half - you're going to have to pay 700,000 dollars.

You think I'm kidding? I'm not kidding. :-D

Seven hundred thousand dollars. Gotta love it! :-D

More Nobel bitching

Sorry, I just can't let this go yet.

The more I read about this shit the more annoyed I get. (So, stop reading about it. Yeah, I'll try.) WTF were they thinking?? Thorbjørn Jagland is a real piece of work. I really want to like that guy, but he's doing everything he can to make that damn near impossible. It's like whenever he opens his mouth some new dumbassery comes out of it, and every time it's stupider than the last. Argh. I really hope it isn't true that a nation gets the politicians it deserves. At least now the EU will be taking him off our hands mostly. I couldn't believe what he was saying on the news tonight about how there's no conceivable conflict whatsoever between being head of the Nobel Committe and Secretary General of the Council of Europe. I mean, seriously ... you've gotta be pretty full of yourself to manage to think that. o_O

Anyway. Next year, I think that I should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I feel that I am a worthy candidate, as I also am not George W Bush. As far as I can tell, this seems to be the main criterion on which this year's choice was based, so why not, I ask you. But seriously: What I feel first and foremost about this is anger at the Committee and pity for Obama. I really do pity the guy. Kinda funny: I tweeted that I pitied him because there's no way he could possibly feel that he deserves this ... and like two hours later the guy comes out on the White House lawn and says I don't deserve this. It would be funny if it wasn't so embarrassing.

It's like the Committee is actually actively trying to make the Peace Prize irrelevant. Which is incredibly sad ... but that's what this choice is going to mean. It is so blatantly obvious that Barack Obama does not deserve this award. They're saying that they chose him because of his 'efforts' to strengthen diplomacy and cooperation. But 'effort' isn't the same as 'achievement', and the Peace Prize is set up specifially to award achievement. 'Effort' means 'talk' ... and sure, Obama does talk. But talk is cheap and essentially means nothing. Yes, he's given the world new hope for a new direction and a better US. But isn't that something that even a goldfish could have managed after GWB?? Yes, he talks a lot about wanting to do good things for the US. But he's their president, that's his job!! That's not something he deserves an award for. He talks about wanting to do good things for the world. But so far all he's done is talk. Talk, talk, talk. It sounds good but it does not equate to actual achievement!

The Nobel Committe look like they're sucking up to the American president, don't they? And isn't that embarrassing for both them and him? Yes. Yesterday and today there's been all this talk about how they see him as an obviously worthy candidate and these are the reasons, yada yada. But it all just boils down to this cringe-inducing sycophancy. And it's the Prize that has to suffer for it. So fucking what if they admire his ideas and his visions for the world? This has nothing to do with the terms of Nobel's will. The Committee has chosen strategically this year, they have chosen politically, and that is not their place. The result of this type of candidate selection will be that the Prize will be more and more sidelined. :-( Barack Obama is being awarded on expectations and not achievements ... that is not at all what Nobel wanted and for Norway this is embarrassing and harmful to our standing in the world. Basically this year's choice is Obama because Jagland thinks he's so cool and wants to shake his hand, and it would be so great if they could be buddies. Or to phrase it less flippantly: The Committee want to be an active political force, and that is what they think they will achieve by this choice. But that is, by my interpretation at least, in direct contradiction to the terms of the will. IMO it's nothing short of a disgrace.

Another thing that I really resent is that now he will apparently come here in person to accept the Prize. Argh. I really think that Oslo PD have better things to do with their time and resources than to waste them protecting the American president. The Americans can take care of that themselves if it's so important ... it's not our fault if everyone hates them. >:-( I do realize that I'm sounding rather petty saying this, but I really resent my tax money being spent on security for Obama. (When we ought to spend it on hiring some snipers in Brussels to take out ... no, don't listen to me, it's getting late. Sheesh, what am I saying. >:-)

Nobel's Peace Prize has been a force to be reckoned with on the international stage for many years. Many deserving men and women have been honored with this prestigious award - such as, to name but two, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. Awarding it at this point to Barack Obama is an insult to the president ... but worse, it is also an insult to Mandela and Dr King and the other worthy laureates, and not least a tremendous insult to Alfred Nobel, who I'm sure must be spinning in his grave right now.

There were 205 nominees for the Prize this year, 172 individuals and 33 organizations. Jagland claims he can't think of anyone who can be said to have done more to deserve the Prize than Obama. Are you fucking kidding me??! If among 205 nominees they really truly cannot find one single person who is more deserving than Barack Obama, then it's time to close this show down for good. Seriously.

I say call Obama back and say that we've screwed up the paperwork ... then give the Prize to Morgan Tsvangirai. Him we'll be able to keep perfectly safe at a fraction of the cost, and, guess what, he has actually accomplished something. Would you look at that. Sorry, Barack, come back in five years.

Alfred Nobel gave the Peace Prize to Norway because he believed that in our hands it would be safe from political machinations and corruption. Well, we've had a good run, but nothing lasts forever. Mr Nobel, if something of you is out there, I apologize on my country's behalf. Right now I'm ashamed to be Norwegian.

Barack Obama WTF??!

Respect for Nobel Committee and very prestigious award fading, fading ...

Nobel laureate Barack Obama??! WTF is that about?? When I checked the news this morning I almost thought it must be April 1st. Cause this sounds like a joke. >:-(

If they are so determined to suck up to the Americans as they appear to be, why not give Obama the literature prize?? (That's a rhetorical question, I already know why not, so don't answer.) Because as it is they're basically giving him the Peace Prize for his speeches. The guy hasn't done jack shit.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against Obama ... in fact I like the guy. But he hasn't done anything!! In some years he may come to deserve the prize. But he sure as hell doesn't deserve it now. All he's done is talk. I want to run for office too, and I'll tell people that I'm going to do all kinds of great stuff and then they'll give me the Peace Prize too. Right? >:-(

The nominees for the Prize must be submitted by February 1st, so that means Obama was nominated after 11 days in office. That is a joke. At least they could have waited till he'd completed his first term.

Sheesh.

My calendar wall, July 2009

Well, here you go, Dag-Erling, finally! ;-) I'm quite impressed that I have a copycat ;-) although I must say that your calendar wall leaves something to be desired ... ! Remind me, when is your birthday again ... ?

Oh, and check out this picture to see just how gay Barack Obama is ... !! lolz!!

Iraq, bla bla bla, whatever

I know, that sounds mean. I should care more. It just pisses me off to hear the way the American troop withdrawal from Iraq is being presented ... at least in Norwegian media. This is a quote from the front page of Aftenposten, our third biggest newspaper (and by far a more serious and reliable paper than the two bigger ones), on Sunday. (My translation.)

TENSE BEFORE US EXIT
In Iraq, the Americans will disappear from the streets in two days. The people fear a new spiral of violence. 150 people have been killed in the past week. Who will prevent Sunnis and Shia Muslims killing each other?

WTF??

Who will prevent Muslims killing each other?? That's obvious - Muslims!! If Sunnis don't kill Shias, then Shias won't be killed by Sunnis. If Shias don't kill Sunnis, then Sunnis won't be killed by Shias. It really is that fucking simple. YES, I know that the US are so responsible for screwing everything up, and there's a history going back decades of complications and exploitation ... but seriously, when push comes to shove, it is that simple. Who will prevent me from killing you, dear reader? I will. Yes, there are laws against killing, but laws are just words on paper. I will be what stops you from being killed by me. It's my decision.

Sure, it's a complicated situation, and the Iraqi people have really had a hell of a time the past six years. But if they genuinely care more about feuding and killing over bronze age myths and irrational delusions about imaginary friends in the sky than they do about working together to create a functional society for themselves, then I'm sorry to say that my sympathy for their plight is limited.

Want the killing to stop? Then stop killing.

I just had to say it.

Random thoughts on the inauguration

Glued to the TV set ... check. :-) I literally ran off from work to catch the first possible bus, to get home asap and park myself in front of the TV to watch every moment I could of the live broadcast. It's an experience ... one that I wouldn't want to miss. Whereas GWB's inaugurations I didn't even consider watching. There's something special about that Obama guy, there really is ...

Hardly anyone cheered for Georgie, that rocked. :-) They are just so over him. :-D

Why aren't they consistent with the names? The Vice President-Elect Joseph R Biden Jr ... but Vice President Dick Cheney?? Why not either Joseph R and Richard B, or Joe and Dick? I don't get it. I mean, I'd get it if they were consistent either way. But if they're going to say Dick, they might as well say Joe, too. He doesn't go by Joseph any more than Cheney goes by Richard.

Oh, and Tricky Dick II injured himself while packing papers in his office?? Hm. Papers that were going to the shredder, then, I assume. >:-)

Rick Warren can't count. The transition from one president to the other is not happening today for the 44th time, like he said; it's the 43rd time. Just like New Year's Eve 1999 did not see the dawn of a new century (ho-hum); the new century began on January 1st, 2001. When will people get this?? God obviously won't be helping anyone with it ... I guess god can't count either.

WTF was that thing on Aretha Franklin's head?? Doesn't she have mirrors in her house?? Her birthday's in a couple of months, I hope someone will give her one.

zomg he's president!! Barack Obama's president!! :-o And he's still alive. I've got chills. But aww, he was so nervous! :-D Charming IMO - whereas if GWB had done the same, I'd have decried him as a retarded monkey. Isn't that interesting. >:-)

Speech IMO not great, but good. Some incorrect statements of belief (eg 'our workers are as productive as ever, our minds are as inventive as ever' - lol, I highly doubt it!!), some bullshit, some creepy pandering to the warmongering demographic. But what he said about the environment, resources etc - that was very good and very important. I just hope someone will actually listen ... but again, I tend to doubt it. :-(

Overall a good speech, but hardly 'Four score and seven years ago' ... to my ears, at least. It got better towards the end. Inspirational, I guess ...

All this god talk is so annoying. God bless this and that. What's wrong with these people?? Do they not read the papers?? This god of theirs blessed them with GWB, that's how much he loved them, and now look what things are like over there. Yet another example of how those who suffer the most from it are always the ones who most staunchly defend the system ...

Joseph Lowery's speech got really good though. The ending bit about the colors, that rocked. He's funny. :-D

Oh, the Star-Spangled Banner. What an awful, awful song. I'm sorry, Americans ... but your national anthem is a really bad song. It's nothing to do with you or your government's politics or anything else. It's just a very bad song. You poor people who have to force your way through it. Give me the Hymn of the Federation any day. But at least they only sang the first verse.

OK, so it wasn't that the President (woo-hoo!) got nervous, it was that the other guy did it wrong. Ah, of course! Obama obviously can't do anything wrong. I should have known.

Well, that's that. Congrats!! Change has come. (Sorry, but: *rollseyes*) Kinda creepy when someone, before the principals had entered the stage, said the word 'change' in some context, and the crowd cheered just because of that. Umm ... Here's hoping that all the massive amounts of hard work that the American people no doubt have ahead of them won't be off-putting to anyone. Their culture in the 21st century so values struggle and sacrifice, so it shouldn't be a problem. *cough* Well ... good luck, guys. You're gonna need it. But now you at least have a hell of a guy to break the path for you. Please don't shoot him.

Bush is leaving town! Yay!! Me so happy, happy! That's one bad habit you've kicked already right there. ;-)

FINALLY ... !!!

It's felt like this day would never come. It's just dragged on and on and on ... it's taken forever ... it's felt like we would never get rid of that chimp-faced warmongering idiot. And if we, the semi-mythical Rest Of The World, have felt like that, imagine how the Americans must have felt! Imagine how it must have been like for them - if we've been feeling like we couldn't turn on the news or open a paper without seeing his ugly mug, think about those poor saps, who really literally couldn't! At least we've got our own politicians to take the focus off. But the Americans, they've been stuck with their crappy media and their even crappier president. How they must have suffered. I shudder at the thought. But FINALLY, those awful days are behind us. FINALLY, we're leaving that valley of woe. FINALLY, we can all join together in a joyful chorus and say ...

BYE, GEORGE!!



I'm not saying that from here on out we will all be swimming in milk & honey. On the contrary - as always happens in American elections, they're really just trading one right wing nutcase for another right wing nutcase. But intelligence, integrity, respect, humility, a top level education, a varied background and the ability to actually learn from one's experiences ... these are good things. That's all I'm saying. They're good things.

Plus a gorgeous smile, a sexy voice and general hotness never hurt anyone. Just sayin'.

Congratulations, Americans!! For those of you with properly functioning brains (I just ran across a couple of you without them, in the BookCrossing Chit-Chat forum - like, omg lolz!!) it must be a great source of pride to know that the world is watching you today ... and for once, not cringing in embarrassment or shouting in anger. I personally will be glued to my TV set. Today is a historic day, and I'm so grateful to be allowed to experience it. We should all be. It's a small step, but it's progress. Congratulations.

Norwegian headlines

This one is for my American readers. :-)

Newspapers in this country have printed various foreign newspaper and magazine covers over the past few days as part of their coverage of the election results. I'm sure some, hopefully many, American papers have done the same. But Norway is - fortunately - a tiny insignificant nation on the edge of nowhere, and our newspapers are of little interest to anyone but ourselves ... so I'm sure you won't have seen any Norwegian cover stories anywhere. Which is why I thought I'd share these. I thought it might be nice to see some physical evidence that people here are happy for you too. :-) Plus that bottom cover is actually really cool design-wise too.

This first one is from Dagbladet, which is the second largest print newspaper in the country. Online I think they're the biggest. It is a tabloid, in every sense of the word, published daily. On November 5th, however, they actually published two issues. That pretty much never happens. When their regular issue went to the printers the result of the election wasn't clear, so later in the day they published this second ... we might as well say celebratory issue.

My translation:
'A longed-for change'
Obama crushed McCain
LANDSLIDE TONIGHT
Here is the US' new first family
This is how the US will be under Obama

This second one is kind of clever. :-) Plus, the design is actually really nifty.

This is from Aftenposten, which is what, the third biggest paper, but the most prestigious and respected one. The one where you're surprised to find a typo. ;-) It is a tabloid in format only and is published twice daily on weekdays, mornings only on weekends.

The headline is a kind of pun. The United States of America in Norwegian is Amerikas forente stater. Wheras forandre, as you see here, means change. So it's a kind of double pun since change is the word Obama himself has used so much. To keep that double meaning in transferring this headline to English, I would translate it as The Altered States of America. :-)

Well ... nifty, anyway. :-)

Have a great weekend. :-)

Inspiration x2

They did it, by Jove, they did it!

Yess ... !!!

Congratulations to the American people. My most dire prejudices have been put to shame. :-) The best choice has been made for a bad situation, and an inspired man will lead his people. It'll be a sight to see. :-) And the world will be watching.

I didn't watch all night, I caved in at around 3:15. Then I got my duvet from the bedroom and went to sleep on the couch with the TV on. :-D Nothing was decided by then, far from it. Then I woke up at around 5:20 and looked at the TV and there was a banner across the bottom of the screen that said Barack Obama new US president. Yay. Then I went to sleep for another couple of hours and got up and went to work. Things have been hectic here today so I haven't read too much news coverage online. Mainly in Dagbladet, which of course have had lots of profound insights. :-D My favorite quote of the day* is this one from some Republican woman who's just crushed that McCain lost: Obama is evil and cruel. He’ll turn this into a socialist country. [We fear him] because of all his radical acquaintances, because he will tax us to death and because he’s so Palestine-friendly (my translation).

Ahahahahaha!!!! :-D What a stupid stupid idiot!! :-D Guess she'll be in for the shock of her life when, guess what, pretty much nothing changes. ;-) 'Tax us to death'!! LOL!! When the voting public demands that its public servants be fiscally responsible, yet don't understand the difference between taxing and spending on the one hand, and borrowing and spending on the other ... well, let's just say that the new president's got his work cut out for him. :-D

Nothing much will change, like I said, except perhaps the entire mood of the country. :-) I hope for the best for the American people and for their new leader. (I'm already looking forward to the inauguration ceremony.) As for Norway, we'll probably only notice one difference, which will be negative - the new administration will hassle us more about soldiers for Afghanistan. Us and every other NATO member. But for the great gift of not having to see John McCain's ancient mug in every newspaper for the next four years, it's probably a small price to pay.

Congratulations to the new president! He's already a historical figure. All the best of luck to him and to his family and supporters.

*It has been SO FUNNY during this campaign to see all the Republican voters who figured they had to vote for McCain because Obama would raise those dastardly taxes. :-D Like any president could possibly avoid raising taxes in this current situation! zomg too funny. And tax rates don't matter anyway, it's what you get for your taxes that counts. I'll have to blog about taxes and Americans vs Europeans one of these days ... :-)