In Norway I saw a country cushioned by oil money yet vividly conscious of environmental change; communitarian if not socialist and yet brimming with energetic entrepreneurs; concerned about immigration, yet still suffused with an ethic of welcome.
And now, not even Norway is safe. Which means that no place is. Which means that the society is under increasing pressure everywhere.
From what I saw, there is -- or was -- no more open and trusting place left in the West, if not the world. And that made it tragically easy for a madman or madmen to wreak havoc in Oslo this week.
Up and down the western Norwegian coast, I saw evidence of the almost innocent openness and trust that so characterizes the culture of the North.
In the busiest restaurant in Alesund, the picturesque capital of the cod-fishing industry, I did in fact see a woman rush off to run an errand -- and leave her open laptop, car keys AND wallet on the bar.
When I pointed out to her that no one would be that casual in the US, she shrugged and then smiled. "Maybe I shouldn't here, but I do. It's Norway."
Farther north, where it is colder yet in the winter, people often leave the keys in their cars -- and their cars running -- while doing chores elsewhere.
The sense of trust extends to public behavior in public places. In the Hanseatic Museum in Bergen -- a 400-year-old wooden home filled with priceless artifacts -- visitors are allowed to roam the premises virtually without supervision, and are allowed to open and close closets and doors with ancient paintings and hinges that would be encased in plastic or under armed guard elsewhere.
There have been occasional thefts in recent years from some of the 800-year-old wooden "stave" churches that dot the countryside, but they are still largely approachable at all times of day and night.
In Oslo -- a national capital that still feels like an overgrown small town -- there is no thicket of bollards and guard shacks surrounding the government buildings.
And that made it so easy for a man with a witches' brew of fertilizer chemicals to do his deed.
I'm sorry to say that while Oklahoma City was a horrible shock, it did not seem entirely foreign to the soil on which it was perpetrated.
I know the age-old history of the Vikings, and they were a fearsome and bloody lot, and Europeans further to the south used to pray that the North Men would not ever come their way.
But that was so a millennium or more ago. The Oslo Rampage doesn't seem in any sense Norwegian. Or it didn't until this week.
Follow Howard Fineman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/howardfineman
Joshua Stanton: Oslo Attack Highlights the Dangers of Islamophobia
This is a fact...See the articles in the page I copy...Note that an older English article from a large Norwegian paper (AFtenposten) talks about the growing number of "assault rapes" which are mainly done by persons of foreign birth upon mostly native Norwegian women. See other articles on this page about this same story.
A RECENT article in another paper claims that OSLO police report currently that about 100% of reported "assualt rapes" were done by foreign born persons. Apparently many are Muslim.
http://www.fastbrowsersearch.com/results/results.aspx?sp=1&q=norway+assault+rapes&c=web&s=DSP&v=13&tid=%7bFBA9BF4A-1856-4ac1-93C1-2C8379834681%7d
This claim of the last few years...is worthy of more research!
Plus, you will find that Norway - has had some actual threats of violence against it.
So...whatever motivated Mr. Breivik (whose face you have posted all over this page like a sinister Nordic "model") - there is a real and growing tension...with some documented past threats...and some growing attacks on women...in once peaceful Norway.
Huff Post editors...let's dig deeper !
There is growing tension and some growing violence in this once quiet country!
Despite this terrible tragedy, Norway - and Canada and Sweden and New Zealand and Switzerland - and a host of other countries - remain considerably safer places than the United States.
http://www.fastbrowsersearch.com/results/results.aspx?sp=1&q=norway+assault+rapes&c=web&s=DSP&v=13&tid=%7bFBA9BF4A-1856-4ac1-93C1-2C8379834681%7d
But tiny Island Sri Lanka had this same if nor higher level of cruel terror to put up with for 30 long years where Norway armed the Tamil LTTE to fight the forces in Sri Lanka. Norway did the damage for 30 long years not just one day. Hopefully Norway now realizes the horror and terror and a small taste of it and stop supporting terror groups and habouring them by giving them safe heavens to operate from. LTTE has its bases in Canada and Norway. Norway still keeps them under protection and give them the weapons to fight the forces of government in Sri Lanka!!
Well what goes around comes around!!! Keep this in thoughts!!!
But search using: Norway and Terrorist Threat. Search Norway and Assault Rapes. And see who is accused of doing what...I