Free Republic

For many years, progressives and self-avowed socialists have touted a small group of countries as models for the cushy welfare state they hope to create in the US: the Nordic states. Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland offer extensive welfare benefits to their citizens, and many on the American left have taken this as evidence that socialism works... However, there is a reality that has received less attention in this debate: despite being modern in many ways, the Nordic countries have retained much of their traditional cultures, elements of which are repugnant to the worldview of American progressives. These nations...

Major General Sir Nils Olav III, Baron of the Bouvet Islands, is now the most highly decorated penguin in the world - probably even the universe. A penguin has been promoted to the third highest rank in the Norwegian Armed Forces. Sir Nils Olav III, a resident of Penguin's Rock in Edinburgh Zoo, was given the honorary title of Major General in the King's Guard of Norway on Monday, as their official mascot. Some 160 uniformed soldiers visited the Scottish zoo to bestow the unique honour upon the king penguin, involving much military pomp and circumstance. The decorated bird, already...

A significant discovery has been made in Norway that could have a positive impact on electric cars. Norge Mining, a government organization responsible for finding valuable minerals, recently found large deposits of phosphate rocks in the country. These rocks can be used to power electric cars. According to the mining company, there could be up to 70 billion tonnes of phosphorus in Norway, which is enough to meet the demand for electric power generation for the next 50 years. Phosphorus is an important mineral listed by the European Union as crucial to the economy. Previously, the largest deposits of phosphate...

Bjórnar Moxnes got caught on cameras. He publicly apologized The leader of Norway’s left-wing Ródt party, Bjórnar Moxnes, was caught red-handed while stealing a pair of sunglasses from the Duty Free at Oslo airport. Moxnes was fined 3,000 Norwegian kroner (just over €257) for theft with intent. The news has raised a hornet’s nest of controversy. Over the weekend, the leader was interviewed by Norwegian public broadcaster Nrk, to which he recounted the incident and admitted his guilt: “I want to start by saying I’m very sorry.” Moxnes explained that he only realized he had left the shop without paying...

A group of UK islands could become a territory of Norway under dramatic new proposals. Orkney, off the northeast coast of Scotland, has a population of less than 23,000 people spread across its 20 inhabited islands and makes up one of the country's 32 council areas. But next week a motion will go before the council, exploring "alternative forms of governance" including changing the archipelago's status within the UK or becoming a self-governing territory of the Scandinavian nation. "We are looking for the very best position for future generations and our place in the world," council leader James Stockan told...

Here's what it tastes like.We’ve all heard the expression “aging like a fine wine,” which implies that, like the best bottles, certain things get better with time. But what would happen if, say, that aging took place at the bottom of the ocean in a remote location just shy of the Arctic Circle? That’s the question that Norwegian boating company Hurtigruten wanted to test when it partnered with British Rathfinny Wine Estate to lower bottles of its 2018 Classic Cuveé to the ocean floor in hopes of bringing back a higher-quality, more mature product and, if not, to at least...

The four fish traps discovered by mountain hiker Reidar Marstein last summer consist of long poles that have been driven into the seabed. They form the pattern of a fence that has guided the fish into a chamber. From there, Stone Age folks could easily use a fishing net to catch the fish they needed.Each chamber consisted of around 40-50 poles, and the archaeologists have found remains that are as much as 80 centimetres long. They are so well preserved that they 'might as well have been cut last year', they write enthusiastically on KHM's Facebook page.In the Norwegian mountains,...

In 2022 Norway’s third richest man, Kjell Inge Røkke, announced in an open letter to shareholders he was moving to Lugano, Switzerland. “My capital will continue working in Norway,” wrote the fishing magnate turned industrialist who launched his empire four decades ago with a 69-foot trawler he bought while saving money working on ships off the coast of Alaska. Røkke, who Forbes estimates has a fortune of $5.1 billion, will cost the Norwegian government an estimated 175,000,000 kroner annually (roughly $16 million) with his departure. That might not sound like a lot of money, but Røkke is not the only...

The U.S. is an “outlier” among Western nations in providing body-altering drugs and surgery to children who identify as transgender, as concern grows in the scientific community about the results of such treatments. Described by many Democratic politicians as “gender-affirming care” for “trans kids,” puberty-blocking drugs and sex reassignment surgeries at a young age may not reduce psychological distress, and may have long-term and irreversible consequences that children cannot factor into their decision-making at a young age. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday: The U.S. is becoming an outlier among many Western nations in the way its national medical institutions...

OSLO, June 19 (Reuters) - Large and mid-size private firms in Norway must have boards comprising at least 40% women, Norway's government proposed in a bill on Monday, in a further push to break the glass ceiling preventing women from reaching top positions. The Nordic country was the first in the world to introduce a 40% gender quota on the boards of listed companies, in 2005, kick-starting an international push to force companies to have more women on boards. In December, Norway's government proposed an extension of its quota law to apply to large private companies. On Monday, it said...

It’s a rare day when we get to say something nice about Europe when it comes to social issues, particularly when comparing those nations to the United States. But there is one area where they are leading the way and leaving America in the dust. Multiple European countries over the past year or more have conducted thorough scientific research resulting in policies that largely ban transgender “medical care” for children. The latest to join the crowd was Norway. They have now ruled that professional guidance encouraging puberty blockers or sex-change surgery for children should be “restricted to research settings only.”...

United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry will travel to Amman, Jerusalem, Dubai, and Oslo between May 31 and June 7. Secretary Kerry will visit Amman for the wedding of Jordanian Crown Prince Al-Hussein bin Abdullah II of Jordan and Ms. Rajwa Al Seif. In Jerusalem and Dubai, Secretary Kerry will hold meetings with officials regarding global cooperation to combat the climate crisis. .....

Laws in some European countries that impede migrant children from reuniting with their families or force them to leave when they turn 18 create a “huge security risk” by potentially turning young people to crime and extremism, the chief of Europe’s top human rights body said Friday. Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said such laws compel many young migrants facing uncertain futures to flee, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation from human traffickers who could push them into crime or the illicit sex trade. “This is causing a huge security risk for Europe,” Jagland said during an interview with...

Norway hiked its wealth tax. A bunch of rich people got the hell out.If your net wealth is approximately $135,000 or more and you live in Norway, you've long been subject to a 0.85 percent wealth tax. That rate has, as of this year, been hiked to 1.1 percent by the center-left government, and even more gobs of cash will be taken from rich people worth roughly $1.8 million, who will be taxed at a rate of 1.3 percent. Unfortunately for the Norwegian lefties—and their American counterparts who argue for similar taxes to be instituted here—this wealth tax hasn't really...

Shetelig had previously excavated a rich Viking ship grave just nearby, where Grønhaugskipet was found, as well as excavated the famous Oseberg ship – the world’s largest and most well-preserved surviving Viking ship – in 1904. At Salshaugen he only found 15 wooden spades and some arrowheads...It turns out, however, that Shetelig simply did not dig deep enough....in June 2022, archaeologists decided to search the area using ground-penetrating radar or georadar – a device that uses radio waves to map out what lies below the surface of the ground.And lo and behold – there was the outline of a Viking...

Experts are urging caution in the use of life-changing medical treatment for children and adolescents In 2013, the number of children treated annually at the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital gender clinic at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland was 16. In 2021, the number was 724 – a rise of about 4500 percent. This is far from unusual. Across the United States and Europe, the number of children and adolescents with gender dysphoria is exploding. No one really knows why. But many specialised gender clinics are offering them life-changing medical treatment – puberty blockers, sex change hormones, and even “gender...

Norway's sovereign wealth fund had investments in SVB Financial Group and Signature Bank that were valued last week at a combined 2.8 billion Norwegian kroner ($263.3 million), it said Monday. Silicon Valley Bank collapsed Friday after a run on deposits doomed the tech-focused lender's plans to raise fresh capital, while Signature Bank suffered a similar fate over the weekend as investors became concerned about its high share of uninsured deposits. Both banks are now under the control of U.S. authorities. Norges Bank Investment Management, the arm of the central bank that manages the sovereign-wealth fund, commonly known as the oil...

Norway's sovereign wealth fund had investments in SVB Financial Group and Signature Bank that were valued last week at a combined 2.8 billion Norwegian kroner ($263.3 million), it said Monday.

Norway's government on Thursday (Mar 2) apologised to indigenous Sami reindeer herders affected by wind farms that were declared illegal after they were built, following a week of protests by activists. The country's highest court unanimously ruled in October 2021 that the expropriation and operating permits issued for the construction of 151 turbines in the Fosen region of western Norway were invalid. The court found that the project violated the rights of Sami families to practise their culture of reindeer husbandry.

Professional protester Greta Thunberg helped block the entrance to Norway’s energy ministry Monday to demand freedom for indigenous reindeer herding. “We can’t use the so-called climate transition as a cover for colonialism,” Thunberg told broadcaster TV2 as she blocked the doors of the ministry in Oslo, AFP reports. “A climate transition that violates human rights is not a climate transition worthy of the name and we must therefore stand up against the human rights violations that are happening here,” the Swedish activist said.