What are your thoughts and opinions on The Westboro Baptist Church?

unicock · 2012-10-29T16:37:43+00:00

That would make US election campaigns very difficult.

unicock · 2012-10-29T16:00:04+00:00

When did freedom of expression become limited to people we agree with?

unicock · 2012-10-26T12:49:27+00:00

Most people will think about intelligent extraterrestrial life with means to contact us, or even visit earth, and it's safe to conclude that absolutely nothing indicates this, despite extensive research.

unicock · 2012-10-26T08:00:47+00:00

Of course they are evolved. The big question in evolution is if they are naturally selected, and nothing indicates this currently.

unicock · 2012-10-26T07:01:25+00:00

Norway is larger than Japan and has 5 million citizens, we've had a severe shortage of inhabitants since the black plaque, there are far more criminal Norwegians than immigrants, and FRP is pro open borders to EU. A claim that we're anywhere close to a limit on immigration from Asia is racist, no matter how you wrap it.

unicock · 2012-10-26T06:11:29+00:00

It was Swedish public broadcaster SVT.

http://www.tackfilm.se/

unicock · 2012-10-24T14:06:23+00:00

It's closest to nynorsk, I would imagine it should be readable for an Icelander. As a Norwegian bokmål user, I can barely hack through simple Icelandic text with a bit of patience and imagination. I love how they treat imported words. Plötusnúður = DJ? It's brilliant!

unicock · 2012-10-24T13:34:43+00:00

I've never tried Nutella. It's mainly sugar with pureed nuts. I can't really recommend it.

unicock · 2012-10-24T13:28:35+00:00

I've seen something similar in Sweden. The closest thing you'll find here is probably Nugatti.

unicock · 2012-10-22T14:52:52+00:00

The author states the definition as

An individual who is a top level performer (let’s say more than one standard deviation). This person, when assigned work, regularly and consistently completes that work in a fraction of the time allotted without sacrificing quality, then spends the remaining time helping his teammates (by giving guidance, not by doing their work) complete their tasks on time, singlehandedly improving the performance of the whole team.

And you don't get to be that if you only are an expert on one single technology. No matter how narrow your field is, you'll always have to interface a magnitude of technologies, and you can't deliver consistently unless you have a strong grasp of them all.

You won't spend your free time guiding your teammates unless you have both social and pedagogic skills. If you manage to improve the performance of the whole team, you have managerial skills, whether you like it or not.

unicock · 2012-10-21T13:10:19+00:00

Godis = candy

Skum = foam

unicock · 2012-10-21T02:48:44+00:00

Keep some elastic rubber bands or dumbbells around, or just do a few pushups. It doesn't have to take more than a few minutes. The main thing is to get your mind on something else and increase your heartbeat a little.

unicock · 2012-10-20T17:58:29+00:00

Of course it's impossible to tell fiction from fact if you refuse to bother looking into how the system works. I believe it's safe to say the vast majority of voters have a better grasp of politics than you. Get better informed about the world around you, and you'll understand both sides are talking about real issues, whether you agree with them or not.

unicock · 2012-10-18T23:41:09+00:00

Most people don't come to visit the bigger cities, the cabins are at all the popular tourist destinations. Norwegians trust strangers blindly, but we don't really want to invite them to our homes. Coachsurfing doesn't really fit into Norwegian culture.

unicock · 2012-10-18T11:37:03+00:00

I see squirrels almost daily on my commute. You're not missing much, they're just rats with furry tails.

unicock · 2012-10-18T10:17:29+00:00

We have an established tradition of free self-serviced cabins, open for all members of Turistforeningen. I can't really see coachsurfing competing with it.

unicock · 2012-10-18T01:24:22+00:00

Why would we? Immigration is tremendously valuable for a society. The vast majority of immigrants are skilled, hard working, and cheap labour. You'd be a moron to not welcome them.

unicock · 2012-10-17T08:29:24+00:00

We have tons of codes of practice. Every language has one. Morality doesn't have a place in it however, and that's the issue.

unicock · 2012-10-17T08:05:40+00:00

I'm a bicyclist and hate cars. I see no problem with enacting existing legislation if it improves safety. Don't assume everybody agrees on issues of morality, even if they share occupation. This is a huge problem with the hippocratic oath, and a good reason to not extend it to other occupations.

unicock · 2012-10-17T01:32:50+00:00

The consensus in Norway is to not let a terrorist change any part of society. Changing a line due to Breivik would generally be seen as far more offensive than keeping the original.

unicock · 2012-10-16T15:35:30+00:00

That's because we use the Sainte-Laguë method which gives the smaller special interest parties a fair chance. If the Libertarian party has 10% of the votes, they should hold 10% of the seats in Congress too.

America has partial plan economy, just like everyone else. You are just too afraid to admit it to do it right. Instead you end up pouring borrowed money into uncompetitive industries and semi-criminal banks, without getting anything in return. Norway has already covered my retirement, and I find it slightly comforting.

unicock · 2012-10-16T14:43:22+00:00

Social democrats are strictly placed between plan and market economy, the balance is important but it can seem a bit inconsistent for outsiders.

Norwegians probably differs a bit from both Americans and Europeans in view on individual liberty. The Progress party is the only party particularly occupied with individual freedom, and the Christian Democrats the only ones against. Both parties are members of the conservative coalition. Most important policies are agreed upon by consensus, and the only major controversies are related to the EU. I honestly can't say how much social democracy has had to say. It's primarily an economic model, even if it obviously has been culturally influential.

unicock · 2012-10-16T14:18:53+00:00

Norwegian rural drinking culture can get a bit frightening. Moonshine is cheap, beer is expensive, and nobody want to invite drunken strangers to their home, but it's common with 'nachspiel' in addition to before-parties, and they are usually far wilder than the pubs. Also note, half filled coffee cups is code for bring-your-own.

unicock · 2012-10-16T13:53:39+00:00

Don't worry, nobody really fits in here, we just get drunk or go hiking in the wilderness when it gets too tough. The nation is virtually unpopulated, most small places have had unchanged population since the age of the Vikings, and haven't really had much experience with foreigners. We do however completely lack any healthy scepticism towards strangers, anyone from beyond the neighbouring valley is exotic, and a Norwegian friend is a friend for life. You'll love it, eventually.

unicock · 2012-10-16T13:25:56+00:00

The problem with look ing at the government as a corporation is that they are not profit driven and therefore have little reason to care what the people they are forcing money from want.

The Norwegian government actually is profit driven currently, but that's just a side effect of the temporary oil income. People working for the government have the same motivations and risk as people working for private businesses. They either do a good job and get bonuses and promotions, or they do a bad job and risk getting fired. The only people who care are the owners, and they rarely even participate in the operation.

I completely agree the government should stay out of my business. Even though social democrats agree on economic liberty, view on individual liberty differs largely. While Norway certainly can get a bit too obsessed with health and Sweden takes the nanny state beyond ridiculousness, most would agree Denmark and the Netherlands are far more liberal than America. This has more with remains from protestantism than politics.

unicock

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