Deadly numbers

Someone (not a Norwegian) told me (a Norwegian) that mass shootings are far worse in Norway than in the States. They backed their claim with the statistics linked below[1], where Norway outranks USA by a factor of 21 (1.888 against 0.089 dead per million people, respectively). So, any claim that Norway is a safer country...

It Ain’t So Bad Here

So it's not perfect, not by a long shot, but as the author puts it, “a work in progress”, aiming for an ideal goal which, though perhaps not quite entirely reachable, helps guide us towards an increasingly beneficial society which works for, if not absolutely everyone, then at least as many as possible, and leaves...

A Call to Arms: Hello, This is Fear Speaking

For as long as I've lived, and long before that, Norway has taken pride in being one of the few nations in the world where police do not carry weapons, specifically firearms. Now, about two weeks ago there was a terrorist scare; no actual attack ever took place, but according to the Norwegian Police Security...

May the 17th be with you!

It's the 17th of May 2014, Constitution Day, and the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Norwegian Constitution at Eidsvoll in 1814. At risk of seeming slightly sub-par on the patriotism scale, we decided for once (and by for once I mean for the first time) to sleep in and spend the day in...

Tønsberg — From Hollywood to reality

As a resident of a small and, from a global perspective, relatively anonymous town in Norway (ten out of nine Americans would be unable to place it on a map) it's always nice to notice international recognition, even if the recognition in question is bordering on unrecognisable, barely noticeable without subtitles, which brings it to...

Four-Deer Wildlife Encounter

Moments are brief, they arrive unannounced, and if you don't pay attention they'll be gone before you even notice them. So also with this one, which occurred on February 21, a Friday, just before 7 pm,. In a time span of more or less what it takes to shake your head and wonder what just happened,...

Mass-murderer stages “Hunger Game”

"[Breivik] threatens with hunger strike for better video games" — OK, so perhaps I should try hunger-strike-whining myself, and see if that gets me a better gaming PC than my old laptop? Or do I really have to go to jail first, too? "Demands that the Playstation 2 in his cell must be upgraded to...

Moments of Winter

I remember reading Ray Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day" many years ago, which is a fascinating but different story altogether. This is "All Winter in Half an Hour". About thirty minutes of snowfall as thick as solid fog, and it really looked as if it was going somewhere, but then it stopped and five...

Obamacareface

Right. I'm not an American, but living on Planet Earth you can't help having your ears and eyes blasted full of news and nonsense from the United States of Over There. A lot of it makes you shake your head in disbelief. One such thing is the continuing opposition against Obama's health reform, popularly dubbed...

Makes you stop and think

Startet dagen med å vente på bussen, som vanlig. Fant meg selv stående sammen med omtrent femten tiendeklassinger som ventet på en annen buss (det kom flere mens min kjørte avgårde), noen dresset opp i penklær, de aller fleste med blomster eller stearinlys i hendene, og hver og en av dem med et alvorlig uttrykk...