[warth0g]

Sorry to say that the socialists won the election in my country yesterday. I dont think it will have deep impact on my personal life, unless they start messing with the gun-laws, but i hope they dont. Norway will probably pull out the few officers we have in Irak, and on a bigger time scale the troops in Afghanistan. Sorry.

warthog

[longeyes]

Some of us are still waiting for your Viking Revival.

[Old Dog]

You mean you're replacing the government that felt compelled to apologize to the government of Kosovo for that absolutely hysterical (with sentiments that were so very true) music video a few of your soldiers performed ("Kosovo," to the tune of the Beach Boys' "Kokomo")?

[MillCreek]

Absolutely hilarious video, by the way. My respect quotient for the Norwegian armed forces went way up after I saw that video.

[ravencon]

I heard that the Progress Party did quite well in the election. We don't hear much about Norwegian politics here but I understood that the Progress Party has a nationalist orientation and seeks restrictions on immigration.

[warth0g]

Yes, the party FRP or progress party did very well, i wouldnt call them nationalist though. Good observation, ravencon!

Mill Creek, yes that was a funny video!

warth0g

[longeyes]

Just for information purposes, the current percentage of Islamic population in Norway is...?

[warth0g]

81 000 members of muslim "churches" or whatever out of a population of 4,5 million, i guess children or women might not be in this number!

warthog

[longeyes]

Interesting. So if women and children "don't count," maybe 400,000...?

[warth0g]

Longeyes: Did find some more info.
8% of the population in norway is immigrants, or children born of two foreign parents. This is counting people from nearly 200 countries. The largest population of immigrants is from Pakistan. 72% of the total of immigrants is from non-western cultures, im counting eastern europe as non-western. Presumably muslim immigrants is about 52 % or abuot 200 000 people. Coming from Asia or Afrika. In this figure vietnamese or other far eastern counts for a smaller amount.
http://www.ssb.no/emner/02/01/10/innvbef/fig-2005-05-26-01.html
You might understand most of this his link... and for this:
http://www.ssb.no/emner/02/01/10/innvbef/fig-2005-05-26-02.html

No doubt the new goverment will make it easier for refugees or immigrants to get to live in Norway.

warth0g

[Colt46]

Self reliance, practicality, seafaring traditions, Krags and those damned knives. Sorry for your loss. I hope to visit one day.

[ravencon]

8% foreign born!?

No wonder an anti-immigration party did so well.

I hope all of Europe awakes to the reality of the immigration invasion, while there still is a Europe.

[longeyes]

8% foreign born!?

Checked the stats lately for the US of A?

It's not foreign-born that's the issue, it's allegiance and assimilation.

[ravencon]

Yes, the percentage of foreign born in the US is now very high. But Norway has not been a nation that has previously been a destination for large numbers of immigrants. That Norway and other European nations are making the same disasterous, PC mistakes the U.S. has made is a tragedy. Fortunately for our European bretheren many European nations are way ahead of us on the learning curve and are starting to take this issue seriously.

Does anyone seriously believe that an immigrant from Turkey or Algeria is as likely to assimilate successfully into Norwegian life (or American life for that matter) than an immigrant from, say, Denmark or Italy?

The immigration issue has been excrutiatingly slow to gain traction in the U.S. because the corporate media is all for it and both the Democrat and Republican parties are all for it, albeit for different reasons.

[warth0g]

The 8% figure was including people of western origin. Still, the muslim population is refusing to adapt our customs, for instance they import their own mullahs from Pakistan. Nearly every shooting in Norway, is done by first or second generations immigrants from muslim or eastern european contries. "the perperators was of foreign origin", is something we hear or read in the media, often after a shooting or other violent crimes. Its very hard to get statistics of this, because it is of course not PC to talk about this.

warth0g

[fallingblock]

"Sorry to say that the socialists won the election in my country yesterday. I dont think it will have deep impact on my personal life, unless they start messing with the gun-laws, but i hope they dont. Norway will probably pull out the few officers we have in Irak, and on a bigger time scale the troops in Afghanistan. Sorry."
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I was preparing to post a question for THR's Norwegian members about the consequences of the election.

Is there much hope of the coalition steering away from gun control?

I understand that Norway is one of the most ardent supporters of I.A.N.S.A.-

Will the new government likely turn this international anti-gun attitude into a domestic agenda?

Any additional information would be appreciated.

[igor]

This "change" in the Norwegian administration won't change a wonderful country to a significant degree IMHO. What little we see from the neighboring countries would seem to suggest it's unlikely that gun "control" would gain status as a major issue even with the new Norwegian administration. TMMV, though... :scrutiny:

We both still have it pretty well, I must say. The Swedish in between seem to be getting trouble, the last rumor has it that IPSC Rifle competitions are getting really rare there for PC reasons... that's what they get for neglecting their national defence for so long.

I like Norway a lot. Spent a year at a university there and made many good friends. But, the immigration thing was very visible already then (almost ten years ago) and it really makes me wonder why the otherwise so sensible folks haven't put their collective foot down long ago. :confused:

[M67]

I was preparing to post a question for THR's Norwegian members about the consequences of the election. As a colleague said at lunch the day after the election: I'm sick. Look at the morons we're going to have to put up with the next four years.

But real consequences? Not all that much really.

Taxes will increase. Interest rates will rise. Those are absolute certainties with the new government. Neither is going to make a huge difference for most people, it will mostly be annoying.

I don't expect much economic growth, but on the other hand, for a small country such as ours, international trends are more important than the difference between one political party and the next. In any case, Norway is in a unique situation. We are at the moment the richest country in the world, not only is there no national public debt, we currently have more than a full year's government spending in "cash", invested abroad. Not even four years of socialist government will be able to harm the economy all that much, at most I expect them to slow down any growth that might otherwise have happened.

And people: "Socialist" in this context means something like Tony Blair, it's not like we're getting Stalin's evil twin for prime minister...

Guns: I really don't expect any change what so ever. I have however been wrong before, 1978 I think it was.
Anyway, shooting sports and hunting isn't really a political issue in this country the way it is many other places. We have some annoying laws and regulations, but that is more bureaucratic than political. I'm not saying there isn't any difference between the parties, but guns isn't a huge political issue. As stated above, I don't think there will be any significant change with four years of socialist government.

Anecdote: A few years ago we had a Labour party justice minister (attourney general) who was an ex communist. A real communist who had converted to Labour party socialism light. Someone wanted to change the law to stop 16-year olds from being able to buy rifles. The lady's answer: "Shooting sports is one of the healthiest activities a young person can engage in. Take your proposal somewhere else, I think it's good for young people to learn to shoot."

To sum it up: I'm not happy about the change. But I see no reason to jump in front of a bus either. One flavour of dim witted politicians will be replaced by a group of dimmer witted politicians from further left on the political continuum. I expect to still be alive and able to vote again in four years.

BTW, the conservative alternative actually got more votes than the socialists. But because of the electoral districts, the socialist side got a couple more representatives. Didn't the same thing happen to that inventor of the internet guy in America a few years ago?

Hey, Igor. I like Finns. Maybe because I have never been to Finland? :scrutiny: :D

Sort of related, here is the way guns are often represented in Norwegian media. Attached are the center pages of today's edition of Norway's largest newspaper. "Did you miss the start of hunting season? Late season hunting tips." And a short presentation of alternatives to lead shot.

[goosegunner]

it's not like we're getting Stalin's evil twin for prime minister

No, because Josef was the evil one. We get the good one. :neener:

I like Finns. Maybe because I have never been to Finland?

As long as you NEVER say: "I can drink more Vodka than you!" to anyone you will still like finns after a visit.

[igor]

M67, an interesting POV about guns being more of a bureaucratic than a political issue... now that you spelled it out for me I think that's pretty much the case here too. Very well thought.

Liking Finns is not an excuse not to visit ;) We're not all like Pirkka (got to love the guy that created him though!)

About the vodka... :uhoh: from what I can recall from my studying days (and nights) in Bergen... :p you guys do hold your liquor, not always well :barf: :cuss: but you still always do... :D

[fallingblock]

I'm relieved to learn that gun control isn't a big issue for Norway's lefty politicians.

One of "my" countries, New Zealand, is holding a general election Saturday and if worst case comes to pass, the Greens - who are extremely anti-gun - may form a coalition with Labour, which has anti-gun fanatics on the left end of the party. I wish there were more lefty politicians with the practical views of the reformed communist you described. :rolleyes:



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"the conservative alternative actually got more votes than the socialists. But because of the electoral districts, the socialist side got a couple more representatives. Didn't the same thing happen to that inventor of the internet guy in America a few years ago?"
*********************************************************


Him? Oh, yeah, there were some rumblings about voter fraud.

Luckily, the number of live conservatives voting in Florida (myself included)
outnumbered the number of dead democrats voting in Chicago. :D

[Standing Wolf]

On average, about 10% of the people in America are foreign-born legal immigrants. That number hasn't varied a great deal over the past 150 years.

In many parts of the United States today, over 10% of the population consists of illegal aliens in addition to legal immigrants. They're a cancer. We're still trying to pretend they're a pimple.