I hiked Norwegian fjords above Bergen a couple of times in the past, highly recommend it if you ever get a chance.
Also: Norway has one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, valued at $2.2 trillion; over 50% are investments in US assets; close to $200 billion in US Treasury securities; and is a major shareholder in US corporations, especially across the tech sector.
So well done Norway, this is how you deal with clowns, not debate or argue on social media, but rub their face in your pure awesomness.
Norway has done a great job with what they've been given, but remember that they've had the national equivalent of being born into a rich family - they have had enormous wealth from natural resources in the form of North Sea oil.
Fair, but so does UK, Canada - which might be one of the richest countries in the world in terms of natural resources I think? - and especially US of A.
But how these countries use their resources is quite different.
Really loving such responses to POTUS, I hope they don't spend too much of our tax money on addressing his childishness though, although, in PR this probably has good ROI :)
Generally building public works becomes quite difficult when you have one dominant sector pushing up wages (oil and gas in this case). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol_effect
Your message is snarky, but yes, it's amazing what you can do with oil money AND high IQ; compare Norway to many other countries which also have oil money but do not have high IQ.
Norway would still be an amazing country if it had no oil at all.
It reminds me that the mediocrity of an enormous amount of the U.S. is really quite voluntary. Enormous potential. Enormous wealth. Just cannot figure out how to socialize the prosperity.
Nope, sorry, Norwegians actually tax mining / energy corporations (so the government has money to spend on... designer dunnies!), instead of just giving away their non-renewable natural resources to billionaires for free. That's un-Australian!
Their resource company is effectively the government and reducing their climate impact is basically impossible without killing their economy. I think we'd rather not be in that position.
Are they just peeing now? One of my indelible memories in India from 20 years ago is seeing a rickshaw driver in Connaught Place, the heart of historically respectable Delhi and no isolated slum, crouching behind his rickshaw and defecating right there on the street.
We have it too in The Netherlands "wildplassen", since the Dutch "wild" (as in "in the wild") can indeed also be translated as "wild" (as in uncontrolled), the standard response when caught is "No officer, I was, in fact, peeing very calmly."
Meanwhile in London we have public... urinals. Just a few minutes from the city center. People urinating in the open. Opposite to where my wife goes to dancing classes. UK is really fucking abysmal sometimes.
I believe that it simply speaks to his worldview. It's an institution in Norway, so he expects that Norwegian leaders can and should pressure the organization into awarding him. This is what he would do.
I'm still not sure whether Donald himself is just dumb or whether he knows he can get away with saying things because his voters are dumb. Neither option looks good in an international context...
Not only the Norway thing, but he also (pretends?) doesn't understand how NATO works. Being angry about NATO members, a defensive treaty, not joining an offensive campaign in Iran.
You obviously can. An EU delegation had to explain the EU to Trump using colored cards as if he was a small child and it took many attempts before he got it. So the deciding quality must be something else.
You're assuming that understanding it was his priority in the first place. It wasn't.
Imagine a painter saying "these software engineers are profoundly stupid, I spent a whole day explaining to one how different color combinations are differently interpreted by different cultures and he still wouldn't get it".
> In January 1944 an attempt by the Quisling government to take over the functions of the Nobel Committee led to the resignation of Jahn and other committee members. The Swedish consulate-general in Oslo formally took over the management of the Foundation's Oslo property on behalf of the Nobel Foundation.[14]
Norway won't play Trump's games. Just because the government appoints members to a committee doesn't mean it will (or even can) fire those people to force a decision it wants.
It is the committee that is based in Norway. Doesn’t mean it is Norway the country. Just like US does not control the decisions of UN just because UN is located in US.
Well, it's a bit more muddled than that, to quote wikipedia:
"
Five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament. In his will, Alfred Nobel tasked the parliament of Norway with selecting the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. Despite its members being appointed by Parliament, the committee is a private body tasked with awarding a private prize. In recent decades, most committee members were retired politicians.
"
Just the fact that the level of politics dropped this low and this is being celebrated is something that makes me feel that we are on a 100% downward slope on our civilizational collapse with no turning back.
How tf the most powerful country on earth became such an openly corrupted clownshow?
It might be that just your knowledge of history is lacking.
Look for example to America (i mean the continent, there is no country named that). Civilisation brought extinction to various indigenous tribes, but in norther and central america. It brought slavery. In a way, we are over that now, aren't we?
Look for example to Europe (I'm so glad that no european country is so full of it and call itself just "Europe"). They had hundreds of wars in a 10 year period. Some small ... but some like the 30 year long war more devastating than even the 2nd world war.Sure, some people there (look into ex-jugoslavia or look into Russia) still think that mass-killing people is good. Oh, did I mention 2nd world war? Then look there, too. And how one society thought they have the right to extinguish Jews, Gypsies, Jehovas Witnesses, mental ill people and basically any political opponent. I still think we can say that we are over such a thing.
Look for example to Asia. There was a country that waged war on China because China was not buying enough Opium. Or look like the asian golden horde devastated with utter cruelty whole (at the time) mega-cities. And they brough the bubonic plague on top of it ...
Or look at Africa. I mentioned the slaver for America ... but actually african tribes captured people from other tribes and sold them. We can't say that slavery is totally abolished in Africa (I heard the Boko Haram does it) --- but certainly not at the scale it used to be.
If you think that society develops backwards, then just looking at how things used to be 100, 200 or 500 years.
I don't wanna absolve any of the evil shits in Trump's circle, or among the MAGA crowd, of blame in this. But I think the biggest issue of all is the anglosphere's love for first past the post electoral systems. There's no excuse for FPTP, and while they often have a positive side effect in giving crazies zero representation, they're vulnerable to crazies taking unchecked control of the system.
Sure, MAGA would've been a large congressional embarrassment in a proportional system. But they wouldn't run the show.
There's a good number of differences between "shithouse countries" and countries that care enough about the wellbeing of their citizens to have good, clean, and free public toilets.
We should definitely make not using that phrase one of them.
Norway has everyman's right, so for some holidaymakers that means no accommodation costs. It is also popular to do one's grocery shopping on the Swedish side of the border, or even drive up from Germany with a full load of food for the length of the holiday.
I think the hundred of thousands of tourists packing the roads all summer didn't get your memo.
You can do expensive vacation or cheap vacation, and both are possible in Norway. You can get a cheap flight and sleep in a tent, or you can drive your car through Sweden.
> Not thinking something is worth what it cost doesn't mean you can't afford it.
Make it the official motto of entire Scandinavia. "This burrito is 30 EUR and a seat in a shuttle coach is 50 EUR, but I have to eat something and get to the airport". In certain circumstances I can even afford a 1000 EUR burrito.
I hiked Norwegian fjords above Bergen a couple of times in the past, highly recommend it if you ever get a chance.
Also: Norway has one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, valued at $2.2 trillion; over 50% are investments in US assets; close to $200 billion in US Treasury securities; and is a major shareholder in US corporations, especially across the tech sector.
So well done Norway, this is how you deal with clowns, not debate or argue on social media, but rub their face in your pure awesomness.
Norway has done a great job with what they've been given, but remember that they've had the national equivalent of being born into a rich family - they have had enormous wealth from natural resources in the form of North Sea oil.
Fair, but so does UK, Canada - which might be one of the richest countries in the world in terms of natural resources I think? - and especially US of A.
But how these countries use their resources is quite different.
At least we didn’t have to steal it from the original inhabitants.
… Oh wait …
> Norway has one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world
There were signs in the article lol
That chilling feeling when an intern in South Asia can freeze your trading account with one click.
Really loving such responses to POTUS, I hope they don't spend too much of our tax money on addressing his childishness though, although, in PR this probably has good ROI :)
Best public restroom density I've ever had was in Japan. Every corner you can find a toilet. So relaxing when you are traveling.
Yet no trash cans. It's a frustrating trade off, especially with all the vending machines.
Also, this does not hold in Hokkaido. I taught English in Obihiro (well, Makubetsu) and you had to plan your trash and restroom breaks.
It is amazing what you can do with oil money.
Generally building public works becomes quite difficult when you have one dominant sector pushing up wages (oil and gas in this case). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol_effect
Your message is snarky, but yes, it's amazing what you can do with oil money AND high IQ; compare Norway to many other countries which also have oil money but do not have high IQ.
Norway would still be an amazing country if it had no oil at all.
It reminds me that the mediocrity of an enormous amount of the U.S. is really quite voluntary. Enormous potential. Enormous wealth. Just cannot figure out how to socialize the prosperity.
Norwegians are honorary Australians apparently, we love a good shithouse.
Nope, sorry, Norwegians actually tax mining / energy corporations (so the government has money to spend on... designer dunnies!), instead of just giving away their non-renewable natural resources to billionaires for free. That's un-Australian!
Their resource company is effectively the government and reducing their climate impact is basically impossible without killing their economy. I think we'd rather not be in that position.
Same energy as ‘CU in the NT’.
> Norwegians are honorary Australians apparently LOL, why?
I understand shortened attention spans but maybe consider reading the entire sentence of a single sentence comment before replying.
I understand it's getting late in Oz, you're probably still drunk, but the question stands still
Should we then also understand that perhaps some struggle to parse https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50324525 ?
yeah man, it doesn't hit the same if you're not in land down under...
No way you could have those in North America -- people would ruin them. Which is a shame because they are pretty place to be a king/queen for a bit.
India please kindly follow. Indians peeing on the roads should be put in the prisons for life.
Are they just peeing now? One of my indelible memories in India from 20 years ago is seeing a rickshaw driver in Connaught Place, the heart of historically respectable Delhi and no isolated slum, crouching behind his rickshaw and defecating right there on the street.
Tell the Germans, they have a word for it: Wildpinkeln.
We have it too in The Netherlands "wildplassen", since the Dutch "wild" (as in "in the wild") can indeed also be translated as "wild" (as in uncontrolled), the standard response when caught is "No officer, I was, in fact, peeing very calmly."
I've heard a few English parents tell their children to take a "wild wee".
Hey! A Pinkelbaum can use some nitrogen.
Holly molly, Norway #1 rank on the front page. Let's gooo!
Ro Ro Ro :D
Just scroll normally!
Agreed, the website is totally fucked
It's the dumb attempt to use video backgrounds and the varying ways that mobile devices choose to display those videos.
This is the problem with HN not doing humor. You are always the one who does not grok it...
"Trump calls Norway a ‘shithouse country’" - https://www.euronews.com/video/2026/10/27/trump-calls-norway...
Meanwhile in London we have public... urinals. Just a few minutes from the city center. People urinating in the open. Opposite to where my wife goes to dancing classes. UK is really fucking abysmal sometimes.
This reminds me of Rick's secret pooping spot in Rick and Morty
This is prompted by Trump saying "Norway has become a shithouse country, actually" after he was not awarded the Nobel prize for peace.
Because he is too Trump to realize that Norway has no saying in the award
I believe that it simply speaks to his worldview. It's an institution in Norway, so he expects that Norwegian leaders can and should pressure the organization into awarding him. This is what he would do.
I'm still not sure whether Donald himself is just dumb or whether he knows he can get away with saying things because his voters are dumb. Neither option looks good in an international context...
Not only the Norway thing, but he also (pretends?) doesn't understand how NATO works. Being angry about NATO members, a defensive treaty, not joining an offensive campaign in Iran.
You cannot win US presidency twice while being dumb.
You obviously can. An EU delegation had to explain the EU to Trump using colored cards as if he was a small child and it took many attempts before he got it. So the deciding quality must be something else.
You're assuming that understanding it was his priority in the first place. It wasn't.
Imagine a painter saying "these software engineers are profoundly stupid, I spent a whole day explaining to one how different color combinations are differently interpreted by different cultures and he still wouldn't get it".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Nobel_Committee
If you read that article you'll see:
> In January 1944 an attempt by the Quisling government to take over the functions of the Nobel Committee led to the resignation of Jahn and other committee members. The Swedish consulate-general in Oslo formally took over the management of the Foundation's Oslo property on behalf of the Nobel Foundation.[14]
Norway won't play Trump's games. Just because the government appoints members to a committee doesn't mean it will (or even can) fire those people to force a decision it wants.
Wait what? Who has a say then?
It is the committee that is based in Norway. Doesn’t mean it is Norway the country. Just like US does not control the decisions of UN just because UN is located in US.
Well, it's a bit more muddled than that, to quote wikipedia:
" Five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament. In his will, Alfred Nobel tasked the parliament of Norway with selecting the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. Despite its members being appointed by Parliament, the committee is a private body tasked with awarding a private prize. In recent decades, most committee members were retired politicians. "
Trump got confused and said shithouse (which makes no sense) instead of shithole, his original term for basically any non-white country.
That's some good shit right there!
Just the fact that the level of politics dropped this low and this is being celebrated is something that makes me feel that we are on a 100% downward slope on our civilizational collapse with no turning back. How tf the most powerful country on earth became such an openly corrupted clownshow?
It might be that just your knowledge of history is lacking.
Look for example to America (i mean the continent, there is no country named that). Civilisation brought extinction to various indigenous tribes, but in norther and central america. It brought slavery. In a way, we are over that now, aren't we?
Look for example to Europe (I'm so glad that no european country is so full of it and call itself just "Europe"). They had hundreds of wars in a 10 year period. Some small ... but some like the 30 year long war more devastating than even the 2nd world war.Sure, some people there (look into ex-jugoslavia or look into Russia) still think that mass-killing people is good. Oh, did I mention 2nd world war? Then look there, too. And how one society thought they have the right to extinguish Jews, Gypsies, Jehovas Witnesses, mental ill people and basically any political opponent. I still think we can say that we are over such a thing.
Look for example to Asia. There was a country that waged war on China because China was not buying enough Opium. Or look like the asian golden horde devastated with utter cruelty whole (at the time) mega-cities. And they brough the bubonic plague on top of it ...
Or look at Africa. I mentioned the slaver for America ... but actually african tribes captured people from other tribes and sold them. We can't say that slavery is totally abolished in Africa (I heard the Boko Haram does it) --- but certainly not at the scale it used to be.
If you think that society develops backwards, then just looking at how things used to be 100, 200 or 500 years.
Because people voted a clown
Slowly (GW Bush and Trump 1), then suddenly (Trump 2).
[delayed]
I don't wanna absolve any of the evil shits in Trump's circle, or among the MAGA crowd, of blame in this. But I think the biggest issue of all is the anglosphere's love for first past the post electoral systems. There's no excuse for FPTP, and while they often have a positive side effect in giving crazies zero representation, they're vulnerable to crazies taking unchecked control of the system.
Sure, MAGA would've been a large congressional embarrassment in a proportional system. But they wouldn't run the show.
It's a literal shitpost. I think you're being hyperbolic.
My outcry has zero to no connection to this post.
who gives a shit, really
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To be fair it's in the website itself. I agree though.
There's a good number of differences between "shithouse countries" and countries that care enough about the wellbeing of their citizens to have good, clean, and free public toilets.
We should definitely make not using that phrase one of them.
Nah. Making things great again will continue till greatness improves.
>us all
you do realize that half your country had voted for the guy three times?
It’s not half. It’s half of who voted. Due to electoral college voting in most states matters Little and turnout is low.
Few in Europe can afford visiting these "free" Norwegian restrooms.
Norway has everyman's right, so for some holidaymakers that means no accommodation costs. It is also popular to do one's grocery shopping on the Swedish side of the border, or even drive up from Germany with a full load of food for the length of the holiday.
I think the hundred of thousands of tourists packing the roads all summer didn't get your memo.
You can do expensive vacation or cheap vacation, and both are possible in Norway. You can get a cheap flight and sleep in a tent, or you can drive your car through Sweden.
Or you can fly in and stay on expensive hotels.
Almost everybody can afford it if they really want to.
Not thinking something is worth what it cost doesn't mean you can't afford it.
> Not thinking something is worth what it cost doesn't mean you can't afford it.
Make it the official motto of entire Scandinavia. "This burrito is 30 EUR and a seat in a shuttle coach is 50 EUR, but I have to eat something and get to the airport". In certain circumstances I can even afford a 1000 EUR burrito.