Gulesider has a “skråfoto” option for its maps. I’ve used this several times to not just find out where I’m going, but to see a picture of a place so I know what I’m looking for.

I particularly like this picture of the building we live in:

You can even see the tram going by. This kind of photo gives a lot better sense of a place than your typical top-down satellite photo.

Johannes og jeg så Max Manus på Ringen Kino i går kveld. Ringen Kino var ikke noe spesielt, men filmen kan jeg anbefale på det høyeste, særlig til andre innvandrerer. Den gir mye innsikt i norsk kultur and historie, men ikke i det minst er den en engasjerende og rørende film i seg selv. Ringen og Gimle Kino har dessuten filmen i en tekstet versjon–tekstet på norsk–noe som kan gjøre det mye lettere for folk som ikke har norsk som morsmål å få utbytte fra filmen, men jeg hadde ingen problemer med å forstå dialogen.

I kveld ser jeg Død Snø. Jeg regner med at det blir litt mindre intenst.

FOTO: PATRICK BAZ/AFP

Munitions expert Per Nergaard from Norsk Folkehjelp believes that it’s almost certain that Israel is using DIME weapons in Gaza.

DIME weapons contain tungsten, which, in addition to providing the smaller but much more intense blast radius that’s in demand now due to the trend toward warfare in more densely populated areas, is also a known carcinogen.

Mads Gilbert and Erik Fosse, the two Norwegian doctors who came back from Gaza yesterday, reported seeing dismemberments of the kind caused by these weapons. Gilbert expressed concern that Gaza is being used as a test lab for new weapons. At a press conference at Gardermoen earlier today, he said, “We’re not thin-skinned when it comes to war injuries, but these amputations are really extremely horrifying, and unsurvivable for many of the patients”.

2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict: Casulaties and Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Casualties are interesting links.

There have been some pretty serious riots in Oslo the past few days. On the way to see Brand at Nationaltheatret yesterday we saw some guys shooting fireworks at the Freemason Lodge. The first video here must have been taken right when out bus was going by, because this is what we saw:

Video from ABCTV.no: Her angriper de frimurerne

Video from ABCTV.no: Gatekamper i Oslo

Photos from Aftenposten: Nye opptøyer i Oslo

Apparently internet access in Norway is being filtered:

No, I wasn’t surfing for kiddie porn; here are the Google results showing the link I clicked:

What happens when you click on that link?

It turns out that it’s NextGenTel, my ISP, that’s doing the filtering:

Here is the traceroute result from the US:

I’ve linked several screenshots that tell the whole story on Flickr.

Tonight Johannes and I participated in a demonstration for peace in Gaza, along with 10,000 other people. I posted some pictures on Flickr. It was totally peaceful, although I was a little concerned that some kid would accidentally light me on fire with a torch. An earlier demonstration of Israel sympathizers didn’t turn out so peacefully, however:

http://www.aftenposten.no/webtv/?id=12574

http://www.aftenposten.no/webtv/?id=12572

http://www.aftenposten.no/webtv/?id=12571

http://www.aftenposten.no/spesial/bildeserier/article2856510.ece

Tim asked me why I participated in this march. Well, here, for example, is a quote from Reuters that pretty much sums it up:

The reported Palestinian death toll in the 13-day-old conflict topped 700. At least 11 Israelis have been killed, eight of them soldiers, including four hit by “friendly fire.”

And a very interesting thought experiment from Salon:

America’s founding sin, its dispossession of its native inhabitants, has not taken place in the 19th century, but continuously during the last 60 years. America has not completed its ethnic cleansing, has walled off millions of exiles and must contend with an armed resistance movement. Washington, despite international demands and U.N. insistence that it do so, refuses to resolve the issue by returning a portion of the land it had taken. Approximately 1.5 million of those native Americans, most of them refugees from their ancestral homes who have never been allowed to return, are imprisoned in a tiny, squalid area whose exits, water, heat, fuel, medicine and food are controlled by Washington. In their despair and their disillusionment with their corrupt leadership, those people elect a radical, rejectionist movement (which Washington had helped to foster, to undercut the native’s original leadership) that denies America’s right to exist and has a history of viciously striking at U.S. citizens using any means it can, including suicide bombers and crude homemade rockets that have killed two dozen Americans in seven years.

To punish these people for choosing a government it considers a terrorist organization, Washington imposes a harsh blockade, with a top American official joking that the U.S. is going to put the natives “on a diet.” The rejectionist government agrees to a cease-fire with the expectation that the blockade will be lifted. When the blockade is not lifted, and following a U.S. raid into their territory, the rejectionists begin firing the rockets again. Washington then launches a carefully planned aerial assault on the tiny, largely defenseless area, raining bombs down on one of the most densely populated places on earth, killing militants and civilians alike and bombing houses filled with women and children. It then launches a ground invasion of the area. Throughout, America paints itself as an innocent victim, which has been forced with a heavy heart to take surgical, conscientious military actions against terrorist fanatics who threaten its very existence.

From The Guardian:

Israel today came under fierce criticism from humanitarian groups for delaying access to the injured during its offensive in Gaza as fresh fighting killed at least 11 people, taking the death toll over 700.

The unusually strong condemnation coincided with a UN announcement that it was suspending its operations in the territory in response to what it said were Israeli attacks.

The International Committee of the Red Cross accused Israel of “unacceptable” delays in letting rescue workers reach three homes in Gaza City that had been hit by shelling.

The group said the Israeli army refused rescuers permission to reach the site in the Zaytun neighbourhood for four days.

And, again from the Reuters article:

The U.S. Senate voiced strong support on Thursday for Israel’s battle against Hamas militants in Gaza… “When we pass this resolution, the United States Senate will strengthen our historic bond with the state of Israel, by reaffirming Israel’s inalienable right to defend against attacks from Gaza, as well as our support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said … The Senate resolution…expresses an “unwavering” commitment to Israel’s welfare and recognizes its right to act in self defense to protect citizens against acts of terrorism…

100 times more Palestinians dead than Israelis…this is what the US Senate supports. This makes me sick. AMERICANS! Try reading some news from outside your country! Then maybe you’ll understand why I’m against Israel’s behavior.