Norway

[Sam the Centipede]

In a spirit of encouraging interest in the wide world, here is some information and unwanted education on Norway's recent election. Voting was on on September 13th 2021.

The election was for members of Norway's parliament, the Storting (stor=big, ting=parliament in this context), which then forms the government.

Since 2013 the government has been a coalition of the right-wing Conservative Party (I'll translate party names, aren't I considerate?) and the populist (far-ish) right-wing Progress Party. They have pushed through public sector "reforms", fragmentation and privatization of the railroads, privatization of public sector services, more choice in healthcare provision, etc.

Norway has 19 counties and elects 169 members on a proportional representation (PR) system. Each county elects all but one of its allocated members by the PR system, that's 150 in all, then the 19 extra members are allocated nationally to tidy up the proportionality (this is relevant later), the process of equalization.

The count isn't yet finished, and some fine margins in Nordland mean that Mona Fagerås of Socialist Left Party might get in on direct election, but if she doesn't, she gets an equalization mandate. But if she doesn't need that equalization mandate, it becomes available to another party (not to her party, because they won't be under-represented, think about it!) so there can be a ripple effect on other constituencies, which is an odd effect of a determinedly proportional system.

The overall result is clear though. With many parties, Norway never has a single party government, it's always a coalition. The new coalition will be between Labor Party (Ap, Arbeiderpartiet) as the major party with Socialist Left Party (SV, Sosialistisk Venstrepartiet) and Center Party (Sp, Senterpartiet), so clearly a left-led center-left government. They will focus on reversing the previous right-wing government's privatization of the railroads and public services, and probably increase taxes on wealthy people (on static wealth rather than income).

Some parties did better than expected: Red Party (R, Rødt) is a communist party, but of course many (most?) voters now do not remember the dismal era of communism in Europe. And I think there's another effect: one can vote for them while not really wanting the revolution they advocate but just hoping to ginger up the mix.

The Green Party (MDG, Miljøpartiet de Grønne) did poorly, worse than forecast. They probably won't get any equalization members because there is a cut-off: a party must get 4% of national votes to be eligible for equalization. Equalization really matters for small parties with well-distributed support. The Greens were expected to do better but they want an end to oil exploration etc. and that obviously is off-putting for many in a country which has become very rich through oil, and has many people working in the industry, both onshore and offshore.

On the right, the Conservative Party, (H, Høyre, literally "right") gets most of the moderate right-wing votes, so they did ok. The populist Progress Party (Frp, Fremskrittspartiet) lost share but still has about 12% support, which is depressing (yes, I don't like them, they stink). The Christian Democratic Party (Krf, Kristelig Folkepartiet) shares similar ground to the Conservative party and they were disappointed (Aftenposten newspaper had some photos of very sad faces at their election night party).

There, now you know!

[Foggy]

[Azastan]

Thank you!

As someone who well remembers the unenlightened response from my classmates upon my explanation of the English parliamentary system, I can only imagine how this would have been received if I'd been a Norwegian trying to explain.

[Sam the Centipede]

Thank you!

As someone who well remembers the unenlightened response from my classmates upon my explanation of the English parliamentary system, I can only imagine how this would have been received if I'd been a Norwegian trying to explain.

Oh, why is England difficult? Individual constituencies where the candidate with most votes wins seems straightforward? Unfair, but straightforward. I know the Wales and Scotland systems are more complex, but England/UK seems simple enough.

Bicameral systems are very common, and the division of roles between the chambers (lower is executive and controls money, upper is senate-like and revising) is usual. Comparable to the US in that regard, except that the US House of Representatives isn't the executive. In most European (and many other) countries the executive gains power by holding a majority in the main or only chamber of parliament, and the roles of (executive) head of government (typically Prime Minister, known as Statsråd, literally "State Minister", in Norway) and (ceremonial) head of state (monarch or president) are separated. Ireland follows that pattern.

Hereditary and appointed members, mmm, yes, very rare nowadays in any country that claims to be democratic, and elections for hereditary members (that's still happening, isn't it?) are probably unique!

And a hereditary monarch with little usable power as a nominal guardian of the constitution is common in Europe (all continental Scandinavian countries, Belgium, Spain, etc.).

I guess trying to explain the upper house of the England/UK system is like explaining the infield fly rule in baseball, the offside rule in soccer, the leg before wicket rule in cricket, or virtually any part of rugby!

[Azastan]

Thank you!

As someone who well remembers the unenlightened response from my classmates upon my explanation of the English parliamentary system, I can only imagine how this would have been received if I'd been a Norwegian trying to explain.

Oh, why is England difficult? Individual constituencies where the candidate with most votes wins seems straightforward? Unfair, but straightforward. I know the Wales and Scotland systems are more complex, but England/UK seems simple enough.

Bicameral systems are very common, and the division of roles between the chambers (lower is executive and controls money, upper is senate-like and revising) is usual. Comparable to the US in that regard, except that the US House of Representatives isn't the executive. In most European (and many other) countries the executive gains power by holding a majority in the main or only chamber of parliament, and the roles of (executive) head of government (typically Prime Minister, known as Statsråd, literally "State Minister", in Norway) and (ceremonial) head of state (monarch or president) are separated. Ireland follows that pattern.

Hereditary and appointed members, mmm, yes, very rare nowadays in any country that claims to be democratic, and elections for hereditary members (that's still happening, isn't it?) are probably unique!

And a hereditary monarch with little usable power as a nominal guardian of the constitution is common in Europe (all continental Scandinavian countries, Belgium, Spain, etc.).

I guess trying to explain the upper house of the England/UK system is like explaining the infield fly rule in baseball, the offside rule in soccer, the leg before wicket rule in cricket, or virtually any part of rugby!

It's not difficult to explain, the unenlightened responses from my classmates were 'If you don't like it here, you should go back".

It was their parent-taught reaction to anything which was compared to the bestest-in-the-world real 'Murican system.

[Sam the Centipede]

More on the bow and arrow attack in Kongsberg, southern Norway, mentioned in the Hijack thread. From The Guardian (so I don't have to translate!):
Norway bow and arrow attack: suspect showed signs of radicalisation, say police

Key points so far: the attacker is a 37yo Danish convert to Islam who had been previously been reported in connection with radicalization, and

Norway’s public broadcaster, NRK, reported that the suspect had several previous convictions for robbery and drugs offences and was sentenced last year to a six-month restraining order banning him from approaching two close family members after he threatened to kill one of them.

Yesterday evening, newspaper Aftenposten reported that they understood/believed he was an "ethnic Norwegian man", but I guess that just meant "white".

Police in Norway do not usually carry firearms, but the national police directorate (Politidirektoratet) has ordered that they should be armed, but has indicated that this is purely precautionary, and the national threat level has not been raised.

Neighbors from where he lived previously elsewhere in Kongsberg reported that the suspect would train with clubs and batons in his garden, "he fenced with brutality" and he "gave off a bad vibe". (From VG, Tidligere nabo om Kongsberg-siktede: Han fektet med klubber i hagen

Not a nice guy.

[AndyinPA]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/14/worl ... d6055fb9af

A 37-year-old man was charged on Thursday in connection with a bow-and-arrow rampage in a small town in Norway that killed five people in what the authorities said was an apparent act of terrorism.

The Norwegian security agency, known by its acronym, PST, said investigators were still trying to determine what motivated the attacker to carry out his grisly assault in the town of Kongsberg, about 50 miles southwest of Oslo.

Earlier, the regional police chief said that the authorities had previously been in contact with the man over concerns that he had been radicalized.

[jcolvin2]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/14/worl ... d6055fb9af

A 37-year-old man was charged on Thursday in connection with a bow-and-arrow rampage in a small town in Norway that killed five people in what the authorities said was an apparent act of terrorism.

The Norwegian security agency, known by its acronym, PST, said investigators were still trying to determine what motivated the attacker to carry out his grisly assault in the town of Kongsberg, about 50 miles southwest of Oslo.

Earlier, the regional police chief said that the authorities had previously been in contact with the man over concerns that he had been radicalized.

If only there had been a good guy armed with a bow-and-arrow ...

[Sam the Centipede]

If only there had been a good guy armed with a bow-and-arrow ...

Too far north for Robin Hood!

[Foggy]

He killed FIVE people with a bow and arrow? What were they, explosive arrows? Indians riding in a big circle around the settler's wagons never managed to kill five settlers apiece before the cavalry arrived on the scene to save the day, anybody who watched Tee Vee in the 1960's knows that much. And before you make mock, remember I suggested the cops ambush Ammon and LaVoy on the road to John Day that lonely winter night, about half an hour before we found out that's exactly what they did. Watching all those Westerns paid off enormously in my otherwise sad and doddering dotage.

Probably I'm just showing my medical ignorance again, but I definitely DO have a license, I got it in a box of CrackerJack®. Oh man, yum. CrackerJack.

Anyway, I thought unless you were hit in the neck or a major artery or something, you had a pretty good chance of surviving it, provided you got some medical care in a reasonable amount of time. I saw a movie where the guy pushed the arrow all the way through his arm (remember, you can't pull an arrow back through your arm because of the barbed head), then he sanitized it with whiskey, made a crude bandage, and that kept him alive till the end of the film. So don't tell me you can kill five people by hitting them in the arm. That's UNPOSSIBLE.

But hey, it's easier to shoot an arrow and hit the first guy in the neck, he probably wasn't moving at the time and his hair probably wasn't in the way. So far, so good, one dead, didn't even have time to scream. But NOW he's collapsing on the floor and making weird grunting noises and bleeding so much it's really becoming gross, you never really think about how much blood there is in the human body until it's all coming out on the floor in front of you, then there's so much it has a really strong smell and you want to puke.

And it's so disgusting and so gross that instantly, before you even have time to notch another arrow on your bow, everybody else in the vicinity starts screaming and running around like completely crazy people in a totally mindless panic, and NOW how do you kill four more people with nothing but a bow and arrow? Now it's not easy to aim, like a shooting game at the state fair! They're making it HARD, or at least they're trying. And of course now there's an additional element of time pressure that has to be factored into the mix, because with all these idiots running around and screaming at the top of their lungs, some other idiot is bound to call 911 and summon the presence of some law enforcement.

Oh wait ... nowadays, you say you don't believe something, next thing you know they're posting video. I don't want to see a video explaining how he killed five people. It's sad enough already.

Never mind.



Yanno what's tough when you kill five people with a bow and arrow? It's really hard to kill yourself as the cops are closing in on you. Those punks with guns have it so much easier, they can just shoot themselves in the head when they have no escape. They don't get captured, handcuffed, beaten, and spend years in a dirty disgusting prison before they die. They take the easy way out. But have you ever tried to shoot yourself in the neck with a bow and arrow? Which hand even holds the bow and which hand holds the arrow? That is SO CONFUSING and you can't really practice it to figure out how to do it right! People think it's easy BUT IT'S NOT EASY.

Five people. Awful.

[Dave from down under]

At some point someone will say he did it in self defence…

[pipistrelle]

At some point someone will say he did it in self defence…

Nope. That individual has a particular obsession with one case.

It’s not hard to reload a bow quickly so to speak if you know what you’re doing.

[Dave from down under]

At close range a hunting arrow can be shot into a vital area with a reasonable likelihood of mortality.
(Cf bow hunting elephants)

Much easier with a firearm and can be done at longer ranges.

His choice of bow rather than gun and bomb (aka Fjotolf Hansen) and the police response time limited it.

These evil bastards keep undermining my opposition to death penalties.

[Foggy]

These evil bastards keep undermining my opposition to death penalties.

Likewise.

[RTH10260]

Norway bow-and-arrow attack likely linked to mental illness - police
By Victoria Klesty

KONGSBERG, Norway, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The man who killed five people with a bow-and-arrow and other weapons in Norway was probably suffering from mental illness, police said on Friday.

The attacker went on a half-hour rampage in the southern town of Kongsberg on Wednesday, assaulting people in the streets and forcing his way into houses and one supermarket. read more

Police arrested a suspect the same day - Espen Andersen Braathen, a 37-year-old Danish citizen who has lived in Kongsberg for most of his life.

Officers had looked into several lines of inquiry, including "anger, revenge, impulse, jihad, illness, provocation," police inspector Per Thomas Omholt told a news conference.

"The hypothesis that has been strengthened the most in the first days of the investigation is that the background is illness," Omholt said.

The suspect was being held in a locked "psychiatric institution" and other lines of inquiry were still being pursued, he added.



https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/no ... 021-10-15/

[Volkonski]

[Sam the Centipede]

On the stabbing referenced in Volkonski's quoted tweet, Aftenposten reports (my quick translation):

All the victims in Kongsberg were killed with stabbing weapons

The perpetrator at Kongsberg used stabbing weapons when he killed five people on Wednesday last week.

• We do not want to say further about what kind of stabbing weapon it is because not all witnesses at the scene have yet been questioned, said police inspector Per Thomas Omholt at a press briefing on Monday.
• When it comes to victims, there will be a double-digit total, said the police inspector.

That fits with the reports from neighbors to his previous home who reported him practising with edged weapons.

[Foggy]

Yeah, that supports my politically inappropriate post above where I pointed out that you can't kill five people with a bow and arrow. That's metaphysically absurd, man.

But with more than one knife, after extensive practice? Yeah, you can kill 5 like that.

[Azastan]

On the stabbing referenced in Volkonski's quoted tweet, Aftenposten reports (my quick translation):

All the victims in Kongsberg were killed with stabbing weapons

The perpetrator at Kongsberg used stabbing weapons when he killed five people on Wednesday last week.

• We do not want to say further about what kind of stabbing weapon it is because not all witnesses at the scene have yet been questioned, said police inspector Per Thomas Omholt at a press briefing on Monday.
• When it comes to victims, there will be a double-digit total, said the police inspector.

That fits with the reports from neighbors to his previous home who reported him practising with edged weapons.

That's an interesting twist, to say the least.

[RTH10260]

Storm Hans causes havoc in Norway with heaviest rain in 25 years forecast
Landslides, a stranded town and two deaths so far reported as extreme weather sweeps across south of the country

Miranda Bryant in Stockholm
Tue 8 Aug 2023 16.47 BST

A powerful storm has brought destruction to Norway, causing landslides and leaving an entire town stranded, as meteorologists warned of the strongest rainfall in a quarter of a century.

The storm – named Storm Hans – has killed two people, ripped off roofs and caused widespread disruption across northern Europe in a summer that started with wildfires across much of the region.

The Norwegian meteorological institute issued a red danger warning – the highest level of risk – on Tuesday for extremely heavy rainfall across parts of southern Norway. “In many places, the event will be among the strongest in the last 25 years,” it warned.

On the east coast, north of Oslo, in parts of western Norway and the southern part of Trøndelag, as much as 80-100mm of rain in 24 hours was forecast.

“Most counties in southern Norway will be affected to a greater or lesser extent,” the institute said. The danger warning was in place from Monday morning until Tuesday evening.



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... s-forecast

Dam partly collapses in Norway as Storm Hans continues to cause chaos
Parts of eastern and central Norway still on red alert as country battles widespread flooding and landslides

Miranda Bryant
Wed 9 Aug 2023 17.32 BST

A dam in Norway has partly collapsed as the country battles record high river levels, flooding and landslides after a fatal storm.

Norwegian police were considering blowing up the dam when water from the Glåma River, the country’s longest, started spilling out the side at Braskereidfoss hydroelectric power plant.

It comes after a powerful storm – named Hans – that has caused chaos across northern Europe in recent days, and left southern Norway in crisis after widespread flooding and landslides. River levels expected to continue rising into Thursday.




https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... ause-chaos