Mad/dog/baby house
I have been here for 4.5 days now so an update is in order. “Here” = Mon’s house. This also means I only have 2.5 days left of this holiday, which is outrageously short and if I’d known one week would be over so quickly I totally would’ve stayed longer. đ
We’ve actually done quite a lot, and I will list these things here, but without using an actual list tag cuz yawn.
– Wednesday (the day I arrived) we went to Ikea for boxes and to Sweden for Pepsi Max and Milchschnitten.
– Thursday we went to Oslo and had lunch with Tris and went to Astrup Fearnley Museum. We had fun, but we all agreed that the museum was maybe not too much our kind of art.
– Friday we only went to Elkjøp for Jimmypresents.
– Saturday (yesterday) we went to Ben & Jerry in the Strømmen Storsenter. About 10,000 other people were also there (at the mall, not specifically at Ben & Jerry)
– Today (Sunday) we went to Strømmen again to have pizza at Peppe’s. Today is Jimmy’s birthday you see. He’s turning 37… or something.
And of course I went for a walk with Lotta every day except Wednesday cuz it was very late when we got back. The first days was fun cuz snow, yay! Yesterday was dark. Today sucked big time cuz it was raining the whole time and I. hate. rain. Tomorrow is meant to be sunny tho.
With all this stuff we’ve done I’ve barely had time to be lazy (tho I’ve spent about 12 hours in bed every night *lol*). I have read one book (this one, it was mostly fun) and didn’t get the laptop out until today. And that’s pretty much it! Oh, also: wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee Obama!!!!! đĄ đĄ đĄ
*sigh* Citzy, why are you supporting Obama?
Ok, he’s half-black, has a friendly persona, smiles a lot and is pro-gay (I doubt you care much for North American health care issues); but what about the perpetuation and extension of many of the most evil GW Bush’s policies:
Keeping Tony Blair on as Middle Eastern envoy, the Afghanistan invasion, let the Iraq invasion run its course, Guantanamo bay detention centre, drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, bombing Libya into submission, suspending Habeas Corpus, The Patriot Act extension, the Military Commissions act, the NDAA act, punitive trade sanctions against Iran, aiding usurping terrorists in Syria.
Plus he ordered those two Somali pirates to be shot dead, and accepted that egregiously ironic Nobel Peace Prize, that even he struggled to justify.
FFS, what’s happened to your conscience?
You now seem to be a gullible, jingoistic, Islamophobe; going along with this puppet Democrat, who serves as a foil to a now ludicrously nefarious GOP; so that all the traditional political left-right affiliations may continue.
Open your eyes, the emperor has no clothes, the West’s in a white supremacist crusade against Islam and you’re all in profound denial.
Oooh was that you on Twitter as well? I blocked you cuz I thought you were a random troll. :))
You sound a little tinfoil-hatty, tho I agree with you on certain points – I don’t support much of Obama’s strategy in the Middle East (tho Libya, really?), and as a conditional pacifist (is there such a thing?) I can’t condone drone or any other strikes. But realistically I know that having Romney in the White House would’ve been much much worse and war with Iran likely just around the corner. So Obama is by far the better deal in foreign affairs.
The rest on the other hand… you seem to be seeing a bigger picture that isn’t there, and that sounds veeery paranoid-conspiracy-theorist-should-probably-spend-less-time-on-dubious-Internet-forums.
At home, Obama’s certainly letting the GOP walk all over him to faaar to frustrating an extent, but a puppet? Are you insinuating they actively put him there? :)) Do you also think 9/11 was an inside job? (let me guess…) Political left-right affiliations continue because of a deeply fucked up system that Obama can do nothing about (puppet or not). Hey I’d be all for overthrowing it (in the US, UK, wherever…), let’s take to the streets! But that ain’t gonna happen, so…
And in case you’re genuinely interested in what I like in Obama – he’s the first politician in my 20 years of loosely following politics in various countries who has touched me and made me feel engaged. The first one I didn’t cynically write off as a fraud from the get go. And while he didn’t live up to people’s expectations and broke a number of promises, I feel he did pretty well with the cards he was dealt, i.e. a really shitty economy and the GOP digging their heels in every. fucking. chance they got. (he’s also quite pleasing on the eye đ )
[edit to say] I’m not gonna get into a huge debate about this btw. I’m not that invested, and tinfoil-hatters are usually not that much fun to debate with. :))
Yes, Iâm new to Twitter and was banned within my first 24 hours (twice)
Some things never change.
I appreciate that you don’t want to get into a debate, but am therefore surprised by such a lengthy and provocative reply.
You enthusiastically champion Obama, not reluctantly accept him as a lesser evil to Romney.
âAre you insinuating they actively put him there?â
No, I think that an obscure, inexperienced, unconnected biracial man; legitimately fought his way to the worldâs highest office in two years *roll eyes*
Regarding my supposed paranoia; has it never occurred to you that:
a) In the 21st century, the West is perpetually intervening militarily in the characteristically Islamic Middle East?
b) The Westâs armed forces are mostly white men; voluntarily, violently murdering brown-skinned people?
Is that a âtinfoil-hatâ conspiracy, or factual?
You canât have ignored literally daily anti-Islamic propaganda and sentiment across the West since 2001:
Protests against the Park51 mosque, the banning of burkas, minarets, expulsions of Libyan and Syrian diplomats, the Assad âregimeâ, poor noble little Malalaâs plight, against the dreaded Taliban, *Muslims Against Crusades*- banned, prosecuted and fined for protesting against a British soldiersâ homecoming parade from Iraq, etc etc etc.
The left-right affiliates I had prominently in mind, were those who traditionally identify with the main two parties; e.g. The Democrats for: leftists, progressive liberals, celebrities, blacks and gays.
Iâm astounded that you approve of NATOâs murderous bombing of oil-rich Libya to âprotectâ people and supposedly proliferate democracy.
Do you even boycott Chinese goods in protest against the oppressive dictatorship (as I now do)?
Anyway, Iâm sorry to bombard you with all this out of the blue – oh and when I got that hamster(?)-invitation txt you sent me a few years back (I was walking through Bishopâs Park at the time), I mistakenly thought it was from my sister, who coincidentally had just bought two guinea pigs.
Sorry about that.
ROFL @ banned twice within 24hrs. That is highly amusing to me.
I added the “not getting into a debate” after I’d written the reply, just so you wouldn’t be misled by its length into thinking that I was going to engage with you. đ This equally lengthy reply is also not a sign of me engaging with you. :]
Iâm astounded that you approve of NATOâs murderous bombing of oil-rich Libya to âprotectâ people and supposedly proliferate democracy.
Wellll I certainly am not a fan of interventionism but in this case yeah, I supported the decision (and hey, nominally the French led the strikes). Gaddafi was already bombing his citizens, sorry insurgents, into oblivion. And it was over fairly quickly.
You canât have ignored literally daily anti-Islamic propaganda and sentiment across the West since 2001:
You know, Islamophobia goes back kinda a lot further than that, as I’m sure you’re aware. Crusades anyone? And the fact that some “brown people” flew some planes into US IMPERIALIST ICONS OMG didn’t help their cause. You didn’t say if you thought 9/11 was an inside job btw, but I’m assuming you do, otherwise your construct is on pretty shaky ground.
Islam has a pretty serious image problem, and not very many of the “reasonable” Muslims are too invested in changing that, so the shouty west-hating people have the loudest voices. Aaaand the West reacts to that. There are stupid people on both sides, seriously. đ The world is full of stupid and hateful people, that ain’t ever gonna change. But actually Obama is a nice symbol of the less stupid, and less hateful. You really should recalibrate your outragemeter.
No, I think that an obscure, inexperienced, unconnected biracial man; legitimately fought his way to the worldâs highest office in two years *roll eyes*
What pray tell is the GOP’s motive for getting Obama into the WH? đ Someone who pushed through a number of measures at home that they absolutely loathe, because… they needed a smokescreen to bomb Muslims? When one of their own would’ve been perfectly capable of doing that, c.f. GWB? I honestly don’t get it.
And I don’t remember a hamster invitation text, I assume it was when Alisdair just got Jar & Jar (um… 2006? *lolol*). Do you still have the same number? I just checked, I still have it in my phonebook. đ Maybe I should delete it since it’s unlikely we will ever meet.
Ok, to save us a nasty debate; let’s just permit me a totally unfair, final *getting things off my chest* rhetorical question-filled last word (lol), with no need for an answer:
You think Libyans were protected with 26,500 NATO sorties (that destroyed much of the nation’s infrastructure)?
Would it be *crazy* or cynical to connect the West’s intervention in Islamic Libya, to oil and its hostilities: to Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Iran and the subsequent identical attempt at a Syrian putsch?
[Btw, If you’ve not done so already, I strongly suggest watching the notorious Hillary Clinton “We came, we saw, he died!” reaction video, to Gaddafi’s execution; to gague her probable motives.]
‘And it was over fairly quickly.’
Oh that’s ok then. A coup de grâce.
‘You know, Islamophobia goes back kinda a lot further than that, as Iâm sure youâre aware. Crusades anyone?’
I’m not saying Islamophobia started in 2001, I’m talking about a pervading anti-Islamic culture, which now occupies the Western psyche, as Cold War propaganda formerly did.
‘And the fact that some âbrown peopleâ flew some planes into US IMPERIALIST ICONS OMG didnât help their cause.
You didnât say if you thought 9/11 was an inside job btw, but Iâm assuming you do, otherwise your construct is on pretty shaky ground.’
That’s a weird answer; it could be interpreted as saying that the world’s “brown people”/Arabs are culpable for the hijackers and fair game for extermination.
But you probably mean that the Afghans (who happen to be brown) deserved invasion for reasons or prevention and revenge?
Presumably ignoring/dismissing accusations of: puppet government installation, a beachhead for the US and the well documented multi-trillion dollar ‘TAPI’ natural gas pipeline project?
I’ve yet to commit on a 9/11 belief. The US has obviously used it to their advantage.
‘But actually Obama is a nice symbol of the less stupid, and less hateful. You really should recalibrate your outragemeter.’
Sorry if I’ve sounded a little unhinged hitherto; but ‘nice’!? In four years, he’s ordered that truly countless numbers of people be violently murdered. Does that qualify him as more moral than you, me or most people?
‘…the shouty west-hating people have the loudest voices. Aaaand the West reacts to that.’
Boy do they! With an interminable campaign of: vilification propaganda and genocide (or have I gone too far with that one?).
‘What pray tell is the GOPâs motive for getting Obama into the WH?’
I think it’s the Right’s rather than the GOP’s; to: embody “The American Dream” with his (mitigated) ethnicity and obligatory-black Princeton-Harvard educated wife; so as to inspire post-“credit crunch” social mobility and economic growth, both by shining example and an expected catharsis from Generation X, blacks and leftist peaceniks; after eight years of GW Bush atrocity (e.g. Iraq, Torture, Katrina) and PROFOUND Western nihilism.
Regarding my mobile phone: In keeping with my new anti-capitalist and technophobic beliefs (this is my father’s laptop), I took it to the Wandsworth public waste tip, along with most of my worldly possessions. Long story.
So yes, delete it; but who knows, we may meet someday.
That was a long last word! (you realise I have the monopoly on last words, cuz I can just disable comments after I have my last word, right?). Just want to say, yes, oil, sorry, I did forget that in my previous reply, but of course it’s about oil. But doesn’t that kinda weaken your islamophobia argument? Cuz if it’s about oil and the brown people just happen to sit on it… it’s not really so much about them, is it?
it could be interpreted as saying that the worldâs âbrown peopleâ/Arabs are culpable for the hijackers and fair game for extermination.
But you probably mean that the Afghans (who happen to be brown) deserved invasion for reasons or prevention and revenge?
Remember I said people are stupid. So it’s not the same as saying “I condone or agree with this” (which I don’t), but more “I acknowledge this is what’s happening, due to the stupidity and Otherness-hating that most people exhibit”. Some brown people did something bad = now I hate all brown people, of course that’s how it works. đ
About the Right’s motives… it doesn’t really make sense cuz doesn’t it kinda build on the assumption that social mobility and economic growth depend on a strong government and a welfare state (that come with a Democrat), rather than low taxes and the self-regulation of the Holy Cow Capitalism? And that’s kinda… not a very ‘Right’ point of view. *lol* Why would they suddenly change their mind about that? :-/
Yes, you do indeed have the last word privilege; and I must yet again apologise – for my part in dragging this thing on.
Hopefully, these thought-provoking clarifications, will prove uncontroversial enough to wind up this burdensome…debate, once and for all.
Middle Eastern intervention isn’t all about oil.
There’s also: gas, imperialism, stopping Gaddafi’s proposed gold dinar currency; and yes, generating a leftist dystopia within the West; antithetical to our âpolitically correctâ ’80s and ’90s sensibilities (Rodney King La Riots?) that – I admit, afforded us brown-skinned people with the same *protected* status that our Arab-killing armed forces now enjoy.
I see the political situation as: the right wants for the moribund economy to grow, but won’t compromise on foreign policy.
The left, who are characteristically sensitive and talented; have MASSIVE pent-up anger over the last eight years (partly over the racism mentioned above) , which *can* be channelled into a euphoric explosion of lucrative post-war (perhaps artistic) creativity, like Jazz and Rock and Roll; should there be reason to celebrate; hence – the patronizing, messianic, Obama catalyst.
The importance of pop music to this subject, was touched upon in Peter Hitchen’s latest book entitled ‘The War We Never Fought’:
[Pop Music]âself-pitying, self-indulgent and self-righteous ⌠It also selfishly stimulates the senses, particularly the sexual urge and the urge to violence and greed, with blasts of pure fierce volumeâ.
Plus, from yesterday’s ‘London Evening Standard’: ‘The beauty about excelling in at the arts at school is the boost they can give to a pupil’s success in other subjects and to their self-esteem and confidence across the board. The knock-on effects of sidelining the arts in schools could be devastating.’ ~ John Berry, director, ENO.
Oops, just spotted two errors:
‘for reasons or prevention and revenge?’
– of
‘The beauty about excelling in at the arts’
no ‘in’.
*acknowledges comment reception so as not to be rude, but no longer replies since we have apparently decided to wrap this up*
Cool.