It’s been 15 years today since the Norwegian public turned down an EU membership in the 1994 referendum, held on Monday 28 November. After a long and heated debate the nay-sayers drew the longest straw, winning 52.2 percent of the votes, on an 88.6 percent turnout.
As an (extremely) active member of the European Movement at the time, I would be lying if I declared myself unaffected by the outcome, like the rest of the remaining 47,8 percent yes voters. The European Movement held a party in central Oslo that night …

We all remember how the Democrats used to scorn the Bush administration for Guantanamo and the CIA’s waterboarding practice – once it was publicly known. It turns out, however, that
A top aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attended a CIA briefing in early 2003 in which it was made clear that waterboarding and other harsh techniques were being used in the interrogation of an alleged al-Qaeda operative, according to documents the CIA released to Congress on Thursday.
— The Washington Post
Pelosi herself denies any direct (wtf!?) knowledge of the CIA practice, …

Today, the 8 May 2009 marks the 64th anniversary of my country’s (i.e. Norway’s) liberation from five years’ German wartime occupation, reminding us how fragile a country’s freedom actually is – of which we are constantly informed, through perpetual global unrest.
We were all shocked and appalled as Russian forces poured into Georgian South Ossetia – and well into the very heart of the country – last August, threatening to occupy the young nation in the long haul.
Allegations would have it that Georgian forces themselves provoked the invasion in their search …

We all wonder, from time to time, why the Germans allowed themselves to be seduced by Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist party, and how they persuaded the better of an entire nation to consider the Jews criminal, greedy, self-absorbed and prepared to poison German culture with Judaism.
These questions have been asked over and over again, leaving us completely dumbfounded, even though we’re full aware of the effects of mass psychosis and an efficient propaganda machinery, and yet, we’re just as receptive of it as the pre-WW2 Germans.
Third Reich Führer …

Norwegian Minister of trade and industry Sylvia Brustad (Labour) finds herself in a bit of a pickle following the partly government-owned company Aker Solutions‘  NOK 1.39 billion acquisition of other companies in the Aker system, controlled by industrialist Kjell Inge Røkke. Acquisitions resulting in the Aker Solutions shares’ substantial drop on the stock exhanges.
These highly disputed transactions led Ms Brustad to carry out a speedy inquiry concluding that the transactions were a matter for the general assembly.
The deal is also seen as an embarrassment to the government, which came to …

North Korea launched a long-range missile Sunday morning, according to the Washington Post, thereby defying international warnings and risking further international sanctions:
The three-stage rocket flew over Japan, with its first two booster stages falling harmlessly into the Sea of Japan — also known as the East Sea — and Pacific Ocean, respectively.
North Korea said the “peaceful” launch would put a communications satellite into orbit, and South Korean officials confirmed that the rocket was carrying a satellite. But President Obama called it a “provocative act” with which North Korea has “further …

NATO wrangles over its top post following Turkey’s reluctance to approve the most likely candidate; Denmark’s PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen. For obvious reasons, as described in this Bloomberg article:
Turkey, a mainly Muslim country with NATO’s second biggest army after the U.S., looks “negatively” on Rasmussen because of his defense of Danish newspaper cartoons lampooning Islam in 2005, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday.
German chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday announced a decision during Friday night, which, obviously didn’t happen, as it’s been halted by Turkey’s continued objections.
Except from Turkey, Mr Fogh …

Most of us have harboured great expectations to U.S. president Barack H. Obama, but very few of us expected immediate — and such welcome — results. If he keeps up this pace, there’s really no limits to what he can achieve.
Only last night, for instance, president Obama signalled a new era for global economy, indicating that America can no longer “be the sole engine of global growth”, which is something the rest of us have known for quite som time (as, I suspect, has he):
[…] However, the days of super …

After 69 days in office, US president Barack Obama is preparing a European tour for long-awaited talks with leaders of selected countries. About time, some would say, but the president simply couldn’t ignore the immediate business at hand, as domestic – and global – finances crumbled amid the otherwisely festive “honeymoon”.
In recent days we’ve seen him play down the Iraqi problem, while putting equal emphasis on Afghanistan, planning to deploy thousands of personnel, of which several civil advisers. He’s gearing up to take a lead in environmental questions, scheduling a …

I can’t say that I’m overly interested in the attires in which our law enforcement personnel are clad. If pink buttons happened to be part of our female police officers’ uniforms, then so be it. Who am I to meddle in internal affairs, related to the wellbeing of our men and women of the law – and quite honestly, why should I even care? It’s not as if it affects me in any way.
Granted, most men – and, I suspect, some women, too – wouldn’t object to being handcuffed by …

You had a dream, you said. Could this possibly be it? Well, it certainly took its time coming true, but here we are: 338 Obama electoral votes and a total of 53,516,786 votes – and counting (at 7:10 AM Norwegian time). This has to be it.
“The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America — I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you — …

Dear Senator McCain,
I’m sure you’re a fine man, in every sense. Maybe not president material, but in every way a trustworthy, honest, through and through decent man, in whom I in fact recently regained some faith (in Norwegian) when you tried to stagger your running-mate’s crazed stampede against Obama only weeks ago. And that’s not all:
I’m also quite grateful that you seem to have taken a sustainable stand in environmental matters, unlike the president currently in office and, again, your running-mate Governor Palin. There’s not a doubt in my soul …