"... if children could go to the polls then perhaps Fred Nile, the leader of the Christian Democratic Party in NSW [
New South Wales, Australia], wouldn't have the power that he has today." An 11-year old
Charlie Fine writes about an issue that affects children across the Australian state of New South Wales.
[more inside]
posted by vidur
on Aug 1, 2011 -
58 comments
"People have travelled along the Norwegian coastline with
"Hurtigruten" since 1893. The journey is known as "The World's Most Beautiful Sea Voyage". Now everybody can travel along in the world's longest TV program! Spectacular fjords, midnight sun and genuine Norwegian scenery make the setting for a trip from Bergen to Kirkenes. We broadcast the whole trip live minute by minute for 134 hours!"
Watch the whole thing live here.
[more inside]
posted by sveskemus
on Jun 16, 2011 -
26 comments
Norway's penal system has gathered some attention recently, as the new
Halden prison just opened. The $217 million facility will house 252 prisoners, some long-term and some short. The new prison is notable for, among other things, use of armoured glass instead of bars on windows,
natural lighting and single-inmate cells with private showers, TVs and access to a gym and a sound studio. There was also an art budget, and Norwegian street artist
Dolk was commisioned to decorate some of the walls. The Norwegian penal system is similar to the other Scandinavian countries', with no death penalty, and a "life" sentence of 21 years. In Norway there are no privately run incarceration facilities, and the opening of the rather plush-seeming Halden prison spurred some discussion, but garnered no big controversy.
[more inside]
posted by Harald74
on May 27, 2010 -
111 comments
SomBy were the winners of the
Liet International 2009 song contest for minority european languages and cultures. Sámi rock, you say? But wait, there's more! There's
Alit Boazu from the Norwegian side, and
Tiina Sanila, a
Skolt Sámi singer from Finland. And yes,
there is Sámi metal, from the band
Intrigue. There are plenty other Sámi musicians across
Sápmi and outside of the genre of rock, of course. There's
Amoc, an Inari Sámi rapper from Finland;
Adjágas who are folky and bluegrassy at times;
Niko Valkeapää, who is more ambient and electronic; and of course,
Mari Boine,
recently knighted for her long career of artistic work (
translation). [Sound, MySpace warnings]
[more inside]
posted by taursir
on Dec 25, 2009 -
5 comments
Norman Centuries is a new podcast by Lars Brownworth, best known for his podcast series
12 Byzantine Rulers (
previously). Norman Centuries, as the name suggests, recounts the history of the Normans, those literal vikings who gained Normandy and then England, Sicily, Malta, Antioch and, well, a whole heck of a lot of other places too. They were a conquering bunch. First two episodes are out with more to follow.
[iTunes link]
posted by Kattullus
on Oct 15, 2009 -
18 comments
The Iraqi who saved Norway from oil: requires registration, but it's worth it.
...dependency on natural resources can poison a country’s economic and political system. Inflows of hard currency push up prices, squeezing the competitiveness of non-oil businesses and starving them of capital. As a result, productivity growth withers (a phenomenon known as “Dutch disease” after the negative effects of North Sea gas production on the Netherlands). Meanwhile, the state institutions in charge of oil often become corrupt and evade democratic control. And oil-rich states almost invariably waste the income it brings, many ending their oil booms deeper in debt than when they started.
posted by anotherpanacea
on Aug 29, 2009 -
32 comments
Fifty Norwegian artists (including the national symphony orchestra KORK), who recorded Prince covers in honor of his 50th birthday June 7, have been slapped with a lawsuit by the short-tempered star.
For now, all 81 songs can be
previewed free on C+C Records' website, and some are also available on
MySpace in streamable medley form.
Source.
posted by astruc
on Jun 28, 2008 -
43 comments
A year from yesterday, George W. Bush will no longer be President. So here's
yet another online quiz to help you
"Test your party preference". But the policy questions in contention in this quiz may seem surprising to many Americans.
posted by orthogonality
on Jan 21, 2008 -
75 comments
Valentino Rossi is a very successful,
well-compensated motorcycle
racer and winner of numerous Grand Prix World Championships. He is under
investigation by Italian authorities for tax evasion, which
The Doctor allegedly accomplished in part by relocating to London and possibly taking advantage of the
Non-domicile classification [
link to google cache to avoid registration] for tax purposes. According to UK authorities, in 2003, for instance, his
declared income was £650. Even a priests is becoming
vocally upset at Rossi and the public's reaction. On a far larger scale, the UK was earlier this year identified as an Offshore Financial Center in an IMF
white paper [
34 page PDF]and there are those who think the purported
tax-haven monster should be confronted. The Norwegian government
agrees and wants to "facilitate the recovery of assets illicitly stacked away in tax havens" by way of a global coalition, of which the UK is not part.
posted by preparat
on Sep 3, 2007 -
12 comments
During the 19th century, thousands of men took to the seas to hunt for whales. The indigenous peoples of the Arctic practiced whaling for several millennia before that. Technological change and changes in mores have reduced the whaling industry to a heavily regulated shadow of what it used to be. But it hasn’t disappeared altogether. Even now, at the dawn of the 21st century, ships prowl the seas in search of a spout or a gigantic fin. A few months ago,
Outside magazine published an account of a whale hunt aboard the Norwegian ship Sofie.
posted by jason's_planet
on Oct 23, 2006 -
21 comments
