I’ve put up more photos from our summer vacation in the North of Ireland. Some are just from around Belfast; the ones from the Black Taxi tour we took are the most interesting of this newest lot.

I’m finally getting around to sorting out the pictures from our summer vacation.

The ones we took on 11th night in Belfast are probably the most interesting.

The first thing you notice on the front page of Aftenposten Online is a big photo of three ships.

Hmmm, can’t be good, whatever it is. These look like military ships, and the headline says something about the US. What kind of trouble is the US causing now with their military power?

Then the headline: USA truer med å sende hjem nødhjelp (”USA threatens to send home emergency aid to Burma”)

Right. Here we go again, mean ol’ USA using any means necessary to get what they want, even if it means withholding emergency supplies meant to help the Burmese after the cyclone. Are they using their military to turn back the ships other countries have sent offering aid?

It turns out that US ships with fresh water and other emergency supplies have been waiting for over two weeks in international waters to be allowed into the country.

The Burmese government has repeatedly refused to let any foreign countries help their citizens. The military junta running Burma claims that it will accept aid, so long as that aid is offered “with no strings attached”.

This is a perfect example of the (thankfully rare) kind of bias Norwegian media has against the US. Jeez, Aftenposten, we do a good enough job making ourselves seem like asses to the rest of the world; at least give us some credit when we do the right thing!

It looks like I won’t live to see my apartment become beachfront property.

This is a really cool tool. I’ve been wondering for a while how rising sea levels might affect me here, given that I’m 20 minutes’ walk from the fjord. When will it be time for you to flee to higher ground?

This is surreal. Particularly the part where the Hare Krishnas show up.

…buying three books in Norway with free shipping costs 577 NOK (112 USD), while buying those exact same books in the US and having them shipped to Norway costs 305.89 NOK (60 USD).

(Bearing in mind that Norway doesn’t charge the 25% VAT on books.)

I find it amusing and saddening that Obama supporters are calling for the withdrawal of Hillary Clinton from the democratic primary race. They truly believe that she cannot win the primary, and that she’s “destroying the party” by continuing to run. This despite the following numbers:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday continues to show a very close competition in the race for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. It’s Clinton 46%, Obama 44%. Since Obama’s speech on race and national unity, Obama’s support has been within two percentage points of 45% every day. Clinton’s support has been within two percentage points of 44% every day (see recent daily results). New polling data released today shows that Sixty-two percent (62%) of Democrats aren’t ready for either candidate to drop out of the race.

Looking ahead to the General Election in November, John McCain continues to lead both potential Democratic opponents. McCain leads Barack Obama 51% to 41% and Hillary Clinton 51% to 41%.

Gallup has the numbers as Obama 47%, Clinton 46%; WSJ has the numbers at 45% - 45%.

I love it how Obama supporters are constantly accusing Clinton of using dirty tricks to subvert democracy. What, exactly, is democratic about insisting that one of two candidates who are in a statistical dead heat should withdraw from the race?

Now, concern that Clinton won’t do as well as Obama in the general election is merited. Some polls show the two candidates doing equally well or poorly against McCain there. Other polls show that Obama will do slightly better. Polls also show that Obama is better-liked and seen as more trustworthy than Clinton. These results don’t surprise me: Clinton is extremely polarizing. And that’s one reason not to vote for her. The fact that she inspires such hate among such a large segment of the populace is good reason to question her ability to govern this country.

I am absolutely astounded and disturbed by the vitriol Obama supporters have for Hillary Clinton, though. I am truly shocked when I see—on liberal web sites and forums—language like the following, used to describe Clinton and her advisors:

• absurd
• desperation
• disgraceful
• disgusting
• dishonorable
• entitled
• idiot
• nasty
• nauseating
• repulsive
• scourge
• shameless
• venal
• vile pigs
• weaselly
• whiny

Hillary Clinton is going to destroy this party mark my words.
My stomach is turning from all the relentless Clinton SPIN SPIN SPIN!

These people need to go away for the good of our democracy!

I’m sick and tired of the Clintons, this people are the scums of the earth. Every passing day just makes me revulse about this folks. They think they own the democratic party, well guess what Bill and Hillary I hope yopu days are numbered. You’re a disgraceful couple with no a single ounche of shame. Most people in this country have got dignity, but it’s obvious you people don’t. Democrats all around the country are seeing what you two are. A cancer on the democratic party. Evildoers who want to sink our chances of winning because somehow in your sick minds you two think it’s time for Hillary to be crowned queen. Well if there’s true justice in this world you two will be shamed out of the democratic party for what you’ve done at our chances of saving and rescuing this country from the disastrous policies of the outgoing regime. Go away, for the love of this country and her people go away Bill and Hillary Clinton.

The Clinton campaign is Iraq.

she is ruining America

I cannot see anything wrong with reminding the voters of the stain on the blue dress. Rapists do not bdelong in the white house

But our Billary and her fellow douche bags, male and female and hermaphrodite, is going to piss in the punchbowl for another month, at least. Probably two. All she is doing is making Warmonger McLame’s job in the fall easier by the day. That’s great for America, right Hillbots? War forever. Vetoes that we can’t override, thus strangling any progressive legislation- any at all. Tax breaks for the Clintons while the rest of us lose our homes, our jobs, and, in the military, our lives. Another 2000, at least, will die, and tenfold that number of Iraqis, all because Billary lacks any grace, and perspective, anything but seething bottled blonde ambition. Screw her. bill won’t.

Lovely, guys. I am still undecided as to who I want to vote for, but Obama’s supporters are making me question any support I might have for him. I don’t see the same vitriol spouted by Clinton supporters toward Obama, not on the sites I frequent, at least. And anyone who would vote for the opposition party in protest of the candidate who won the nomination deserves the country they get; anyone who chooses to sit out the election in protest of the candidate who won the nomination should do just that–sit out. The only people who should vote are people who care about the outcome and are willing to behave in a mature fashion, regardless of party affiliation. Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. Presidential elections are too important for that kind of pettiness. Grow up.

In researching why I haven’t been able to access ModBlog or Feministe for the past week or so, I learned how the Internet works, and am now absolutely terrified.

I just got my absentee ballot for the Pennsylvania Primary in the mail. I haven’t decided yet who I want to vote for. Who do you think is the best candidate? I’m especially interested in hearing what non-Americans think.

For some stupid reason, I succumbed to Johannes’s wishes and brought him back an iPhone from the US. It’s a pretty thing, and he’s been playing with it nonstop since he got it. Why was it stupid for me to get it for him, then? I had been irritated by the cult-like behavior of the media, Apple, and iPhone owners since the damn thing came out. And I knew it would get worse once Johannes got one in his hands. He’d already been exhibiting cult-like behavior before he even got one.

What kind of behavior am I talking about?

• Jobs’ statements about the phone, e.g. “…it’s the Internet in your pocket for the first time.” No, actually, it’s not. It can be argued that mobile web browsing has been around since the mid-90’s–over 10 years before the iPhone came out. Realistically, though, true mobile web browsing became a reality when Opera released Opera Mini in 2005. Even if Jobs intends his statement to be a metaphor, the vast majority of people exposed to the iPhone hype won’t realize that fact. Therefore, when they want the Internet in their pockets, they’ll go for the iPhone.

  Cult members will, of course, argue that Jobs’ statement is true, claiming that the iPhone is the first device to make mobile web browsing usable. Johannes, for example, made such a statement, and only grudgingly admitted afterwards that his only previous experience with mobile web browsing was on his Samsung D900, which is not even in the same class as the iPhone. I’ve been using the web on my cellphone since I first got my little T300, and seriously since I got my N91 in 2006. I use the web on my mobile daily now since I got my N81 last year. It is true that the iPhone’s browser renders pages in the same way that a traditional web browser does. From a usability standpoint, that’s not necessarily a good thing. Having used both the iPhone’s browser and Opera Mini, I have to say that I prefer Opera Mini, which adapts web pages for the limitations of a smaller screen, thus alleviating the need to constantly pan around and zoom in and out. So even without a touchscreen, I find mobile browsing to be more accessible with Opera Mini than with the iPhone. Usability is important, and the iPhone’s browser isn’t the mobile web at its most usable.

• A tardy, overhyped, and relatively restricted SDK which requires a $99 fee to even run your code locally and requires that you own a Mac and live in the US, and even then disallows plugins and background processes. Admittedly, this is preferable to firmware the previous update that locked out third party apps.
• Underhanded marketing practices such as outfitting the phone with a recessed headphone jack that prevents users from using almost any set of headphones except Apple’s, without an adapter. So basically the vast majority of iPhone users are going to be going around wearing white headphones, thereby providing free advertising for Apple.

This kind of stuff just leaves a nasty taste in my mouth, and here I’ve written up only some of my gripes about just the iPhone. I have to wonder if there’s some sort of substance impregnated in the glossy surfaces of Apple products that addles the minds of people who spend a lot of time around them. Don’t get me wrong–Apple makes beautiful products, and I like the direction they’re driving the industry. What I don’t like is the starry-eyed rhetoric of Apple fans, the underhanded and sometimes outright deceptive marketing practices, or Apple’s tight-fisted and begrudging concessions to allow third-party development.

I can’t wait to see what happens with the Android. One good that’s come out of the iPhone is that it’s convinced me of the importance of free and open software development.