popeye1250
Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Aswad
quote:
ORIGINAL: popeye1250
"Your Honor, my client was "misinformed."
I'll explain this once: Start with a set of facts. Add some falsehoods you believe to be facts. Apply rational thinking to this, and arrive at a logical conclusion. The conclusion is this: your people will quite literally die unless you take specific, horrible steps. That's what he did, and it's sad that we're carrying on his work in the manner he planned, by reacting as he predicted we would.
You should be intimately familiar with this process. It occurs on this board a lot. If not, I'm sure some of the archive-savvy folks here will take you down memory lane. The difference is, the posters here have just mouthed off about massacring civilians for their cause du jour. This guy put his money where his mouth was. And it bought him a notable place in 21st century history, PR coverage for his manifesto, a nation that will vigorously pursue his goals in order to 'do something', and either lasting fame or martyrdom.
"Not guilty" is nowhere implied.
"Take a look around you" is.
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How many more can there be like him? Either "sane" or "insane?"
Legions.
Come visit sometime.
I'll show you some places the tourist guides don't list, far from the halls of diplomacy in Oslo. Lone villas in remote areas where guns are being polished by people dreaming of a "pure, white Europa" while well-adjusted neighbours ignore it (as all such things are ignored in this country of quiet folk who cower in fear of making waves, whether it's nazis, child molesters, wife beaters or anything else you can think of). I'll show you well adjusted, gainfully employed parents whose eyes speak volumes whenever anyone with a different skin color walks by. Give them a few beers, and the talk of the gap between the halls of power and the common man will turn to less palatable topics. And even in Oslo, seat of 'civilized Norway', you will find people who are concerned that a larger fraction of their ethnic Somali countrymen are criminals than are employed, unhappy about those having better finances than they themselves do, and outraged that they will beat up gay couples on certain streets with a notice that "this is a Muslim street, you can't do that here."
Things are boiling here, right under the surface.
Still waters can run quite deep, popeye.
And we've whole fjords of it.
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What is the Norwegian govt. doing (or not doing) that can set people off so terribly?
Zeitgest. You would have to live here. Or study it in depth.
But you can see some of it in the USA and the EU.
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Most of us in the U.S. are really not that familiar with Norwegian politics. Besides geography I must admit that I have very little knowledge of Norway.
I'm not surprised.
What would you like to know?
The Oslo Accords are pretty dated. Roosevelt was a long time ago. Gro Bruntland is retired from the WHO. The oil is rebranded on import. We turned down CERN. Our piles of Thorium aren't going anywhere but our lungs. Black Metal doesn't appeal to everyone. Our research on climate isn't popular, since it's got too much field work in it and not enough subsidies. The research on causes of crime didn't fit any international political agendas. Mossad has probably forgiven us for being the only nation to officially retaliate against them for an act of terrorism on our own soil. Africa keeps dying, regardless of just how many refugees we cram in here. Statoil, Hydro and Veritas generally don't ring a bell. Few remember Tandberg and Merkantil. Most the merchant fleet and the ship yards are only interesting when you need a new oil rig or something. Two consecutive presidents have asked us to stay in Afghanistan and Iraq. If you've got buddies stationed in the area, you might want to ask them how they feel when they radio for assistance and Telemark Battalion says they will be there.
We're a small country of 5 million people, about the size of Texas, and you'll find a lot of our descendants in Minnesota.
The state pension fund is something like twelve digits, and the effective tax rate is >90%.
Adjusted human development index puts us at #1.
It's kosher to be proud of that last one.
Health,
al-Aswad.
Aswad, good reply. I now know a lot more about Norway.
It sounds like Norway and the U.S. do indeed have a lot in common unfortunately.
When you look at the two it seems as though the "governments" are not "listening" to The People in both countries.
It's as though the people in government and their rich cronies are running the country for themselves and whatever The People want be damned!
For the last twenty years or so I've written 3 or 4 letters a year to my congressman and senators on various issues and nothing ever seems to change. But I won't stop writing letters.
I think part of the asnwer would be for our govts to actually *ASK* The People what they want them to do. Send out questionaires! TALK to the people not rich lobbyists!
There was a movie in the U.S. decades ago and it's famous tagline was; "What we have heeah,.... is a failuuure....to communicate!"
(Strother Martin did it much better than I can in print.)
So many people feel so out of touch and "left out" with their govt's that it's almost like an epidemic. It's like we don't even know who they are or what they're doing anymore! If people feel like they don't have a voice anymore, they're going to find a "voice!"
Look at Obama trying to get us involved in Libya! He's not doing that for "The American People" he's doing that because he takes his marching orders from big oil companies! How can you trust someone like that who you "know" has ulterior motives? We're *paying* him but he's working for someone else!
One of our founding fathers even said that a democracy (Republic) *Needs* a revolution every few years and that govts. (should) be overthrown on a regular basis.
"Let them eat cake!" That's how many, many people feel these days!
Surely our govt's must be aware of this rumbling amongst "The People" but at this point they just don't seem to be at all concerned nor do they seem to care. What's it going to take to *make* them concerned?
In the U.S. anyway, the people in our govt. are the hired help.
We (The People) are the Owners of our "business". Now when the hired help starts thinking that "they" know better than The People (The Management) then we have a REAL problem! The people in govt. are not our friends anymore but wish us ill will. And then it gets to the point where the *employees* start trying to "tell" the *Management* what to do. "One way or another" they're getting fired!
If one of your friends stops *listening* to you there comes a point that the relationship is severed.
From what I'm learning about Norway in the last few days it seems as though there might be (some) type of similar parallels.
And if there's "legions" of people like this wacko then I think I'm not far off. Many Norwegians are unhappy with their govt.
Am I close?
Oh, that "not guilty" thing was a play on words which probably doesn't translate well.
< Message edited by popeye1250 -- 7/24/2011 1:48:53 AM >
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"But Your Honor, this is not a Jury of my Peers, these people are all decent, honest, law-abiding citizens!"
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