Because, Nordic Countries

[Yama]

What is the perception of policing/prosecution in the Nordic countries? Other than the cartoon. Net positive, net negative, or something else?

In Finland, field constables are generally highly respected and trusted by the public. Administrative parts of the police maybe less so. There are some parts of the country (particularly Lapland) which have basically no police protection whatsoever because higher-ups have cut all the funding from 'less important' areas.

And of course few years ago it was discovered that Drug Unit of the Helsinki police force had completely misunderstood their name. Chief officer is in jail now...

 

Obviously for some peope police is the force of evil regardless of circumstances and whenever the police employs deadly force, it's a murder and excess, including cases where the police had literally stopped a homicide in progress, nope, should have tried talking and psychoanalysis first...

Edited August 17, 2020 by Yama

[Yama]

Somewhat contradictory. The police usually score pretty high in polls on trust but is often criticised for not being open enough, if the internet is to be trusted then there are plenty of police officers that feel the organisation as a whole and senior management in particular do not like to have current SOP/priorities discussed/criticised at all. The public/media seem to be more concerned with a perceived lack of resources. There's never a cop around when you need him and lots of cases are dropped without being investigated at all because of low priority. The main reason why you report a burglary or any other minor crime to the police is because the insurance company demands it, no one expects it to be solved or the culprits punished. Wether this is true or not is hard to say, police management say no but fewer and fewer ordinary people seem to believe them.

Here property crime is often left completely uninvestigated. It doesn't create headlines or juicy social media videos, and victims are usually so-called ordinary people so where's the outrage? Nowhere, so police and politicians don't care. You have something stolen? Well it's your own fault you owned something valuable. File an insurance claim, it's almost a victimless crime...and even if someone is caught, sentencing is truly a joke because budgeting bean counters push for leniency: see, keeping people in jail is expensive.

In Finnish justice system, if you're sentenced from many separate crimes, you do LESS time. It's truly bass-ackwards logic.

 

Fortunately, COVID has temporarily solved a major problem caused by Schengen - burglar gangs operating from Baltic countries and Eastern Europe. EU doesn't care about them because they make it look bad.

[lucklucky]

I read somewhere that in Oslo city center is forbidden for cars and that politicians ordered a tunnel construction that starts right outside the "border" zone to let them take cars to the Parliament city center center garage. Any truth to that?

[Ssnake]

Sounds plausible.

[Yama]

Finland's PM Sanna Marin was source of some modest controversy this week as she posed for an interview in a fashion magazine, wearing Kalevala jewellery & jacket. Naturally, some of the fashion police jumped on the pic labelling it as inappropriate, with many others viciously attacking the critics.

I presume if this is the top news, everything must be well within the realm, right??

 

[Murph]

If you got it, flaunt it.

[BansheeOne]

Rather modest picture.  There was a rebellious Bavarian conservative county commissioner, Gabriele Pauli, wo caused a stir when she did a mildly festish-themed spread for "Park Avenue" wearing a red wig and latex gloves. Though there are really more attractive pictures of her, particularly from her motorbiking hobby, that one was used by the party establishment against her as she had criticized then-CSU head and Bavarian state minister president Edmund Stoiber. In 2007 she unsuccessfully ran to become his successor as party head, then quit the CSU, became a member of the Free Voters, quit them again, founded her own party, and eventually quit that, too. Runs a jewelery these days.

Attractiv-ish women in politics tend to get attacked on a sexual basis - see as different figures as Sarah Palin and Kamala Harris - but showcasing fashion or luxury items is a dicey proposition regardless of gender, particularly if it can be construed as running counter to their professed politics. Gerhard Schröder was forever the "Brioni chancellor" after presenting himself in a suit of that maker; a conservative would have gotten a pass, but for the leader of a self-described worker's party it was thought unbecoming (though it fit his actual government politics, and certainly his later career with Gazprom).

The same year as the Pauli affair, Left Party icon Sarah Wagenknecht got photographed dining on lobster with party colleagues, including the photographer. The next day she sent an assistant to borrow the camera under a pretext, and had it returned with the offending pictures deleted - smart move, except that the story leaked, and the coverup probably caused as much controversy as the photos would have.

Most recently, there was a columnist of the green-lefty Berlin daily "tageszeitung" who posed with fashion for window ads of the city's luxury department store KaDeWe. As she had previously written a controversial piece on the German outgrowth of the debate on police brutality and racism in the BLM context in which she pondered the question what to do with cops if police really got abolished, and opined that they should be put into garbage dumps since they would surely like to be with "their kind", there was no lack of sharp commentary.

Edited October 17, 2020 by BansheeOne

[Yama]

Yes, Marin pic is hardly erotic, those Pauli photoes are much more racy. Any way, I'm kind of old-fashioned person in the sense that I like to have leaders display certain dignity - and not just politicians, I'm not a fan of for example Elon Musk making ass of himself on public channels - so I would not be happy of a president hunting tigers while shirtless, or PM who puts belfies in Instagram. (Heck, even Putin has expressed regret about some of the more outrageous PR stunts). Don't personally see much of a big deal here however, that jewellery line she is wearing is vintage, not very contemporary.

While portrayed as men vs women controversy, most of the actual critics of Marin seem to be women.

[rmgill]

I remember being gobsmacked by how pretty Ukranian President Yulia Tymoshenko was when she first came on the world stage. I can't say that I think an attractive woman politician is a deficit in and of itself. Not given how JFK's attractiveness was a big win for him with the female vote. 

[BansheeOne]

Headlines to die for:

Quote

Date 21.10.2020

Danish submarine murderer Madsen caught after escaping prison

Danish police managed to recapture Peter Madsen, one the country's most notorious criminals, after he fled prison. Madsen had been convicted of killing a Swedish journalist on a mini-submarine he designed himself.

The Danish man who killed Swedish journalist Kim Wall managed to break out of prison on Tuesday, but was quickly apprehended by the police, authorities said.

The convict, Peter Madsen, wielded an object that "looked like a pistol" and an apparently fake bomb belt, prompting a standoff some 500 meters (550 yards) from the prison located in the Copenhagen outskirts.

He was hauled away after over two hours, according to the officials.

Danish media said bomb disposal experts had been deployed to the scene.

No details on prison break

Prison officials did not provide details on how Madsen, who is a professional inventor, managed to leave their facility.

"This is a closed prison. We are examining our security procedures to see if they have been respected and if they need to be reinforced," said Hanne Hoegh Rasmussen.

She emphasized that no one had been injured "physically" and that prison staff were getting the required psychological support.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/danish-submarine-murderer-madsen-caught-after-escaping-prison/a-55336313

[Ssnake]

This prison?

[Murph]

My daughter thought this was funny, is this true?

 

[Ivanhoe]

 

I wonder if Amelie needs a green card?

 

[Soren Ras]

6 hours ago, Ssnake said:

This prison?

LOL. Alas, that particular prison was closed down in 2017.

 

--

Soren

[wendist]

On 10/21/2020 at 1:10 PM, Murph said:

My daughter thought this was funny, is this true?

 

For the 80% of the Swedish population that has Swedish ancestry, yeah pretty much. Though some of the stuff is perhaps more north european rather than specifically scandinavian, like binge drinking. The biggest stereotype is, as they mention themselves in the video, the line up for the video. We don't all look like that, not even among the 80%. An interesting question is if immigrants change when they live here. Lets say you have an Italian immigrant who have a son born in Sweden, that son then spends his first 20 years here but also learn fluent Italian from his parents. If he would visit Italy and socialise with the locals, would he then stick out much? Would he appear "Swedish" to them despite his Italian look and language skills? Would he have that "typical" scandinavian shell that they talk about in the video or does that perhaps take longer to develop? One thing is for sure, the way the world looks like today this video will get more and more outdated as the years go bye. 

[wendist]

On 10/21/2020 at 9:32 AM, Ssnake said:

This prison?

I like how in the middle of the picture there is a sign saying it is not allowed to take pictures of the building. All Danes are rebels at heart and no sign is going to tell them what to do.😂

[Yama]

On 10/21/2020 at 2:10 PM, Murph said:

My daughter thought this was funny, is this true?

 

Pretty much. It's easy to spot foreigners in wintertime as they're the ones wearing colourful clothing. Finns, especially men, nearly always wear black or gray or dark green, truly adventurous might sometimes wear dark blue. And it's true for interiors too, your modern Nordic home is 90% white with some black or gray, it looks like an operating room of a major hospital. In stand-alone houses you might see wood paneling, that's the most colourful you're going to get. Also especially in Finland, house exteriors are often very drab and muted, even compared to Sweden.

Being 'filthy rich' - this has changed in recent decades somewhat, but back in my childhood in an '80s rural town, income equality was just absurd in retrospect. Nobody was very rich, but nobody was very poor either. In my class of ~50, everybody went to same school, wore similar clothes, had access to same hobbies, lived in a similar home. Some families were maybe bit better off and could afford to regularly travel abroad, that was one of the few things you could tell some difference in standard of living.

Re: sexual liberation, it's more of an urban demographic thing. Rural Nordics can be quite prude and sometimes very religious. Youth of today is actually less adventurous regarding sex & alcohol compared to what things were couple of decades ago - probably self-restraint due to greater probability that your drunken assclownery goes viral online. Student parties & Baltic cruises of the '90s and early 2000's were wild...🙄

Blondes are probably a minority...at least pale blondes are. Most Finns are sand blondes, like the guy in the video. I personally have very dark hair, though that's my Saami heritage.

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 31.12.2020

Author Alex Berry

Norway landslide: 10 still missing after dozens of homes crushed

Rescue teams in Norway are continuing their search for possible survivors during the night but weather and unstable ground prevented easy access. The landslide left a 700-meter long crater in the town of Ask.

Rescue efforts continued through the night to find residents missing after Wednesday's landslide in the Norwegian town of Ask, police said on Thursday.

Karianne Knudsen, operations chief in the Ost police district, told local national broadcaster NRK that 10 people remained uncontactable and that a total of 31 housing units and nine buildings had collapsed, several of which caved-in hours after the landslide struck.

"We are still hopeful about finding people and saving lives," chief of police operations Dags Andre Sylju told local media. "Time has been key during the whole rescue operation. The longer it goes on, the worse the odds become."

Huge crater left behind

The earthfall hit the town of Ask, around 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Oslo, early on Wednesday morning. Estimated to be 700 meters (2300 ft) long and 300 meters wide, the landslide created a huge crater.

Officials said at least 10 people were injured, one critically and more than a thousand residents have been evacuated.

Local police announced on Twitter that the "search has continued through the night with the use of drones and helicopters. Listening and observation posts were also set up … The weather conditions in the area are still challenging."

Operation zone still too dangerous

Officials said the search was impeded by unstable ground and continued snowfall — as well as drones and helicopters, search dogs were brought in to assist.

Sylju told NRK that the canines were being lowered into "buildings which are considered safe to enter."

"The biggest challenge is that we can't get into the area itself … it's simply too dangerous."

Giving a further update on Thursday morning to broadcaster TV2, Sylju said: "We tried lowering a military rescuer and a police dog handler down into some buildings in the vicinity. That, unfortunately, didn't result in any findings."

No phone contact

NRK reported that police had asked relatives not to attempt to make contact with missing individuals as this may drain their phone batteries.

They also asked locals in the surrounding district of Gjerdrum to forego fireworks displays this New Year's Eve as they may interfere with the rescue operation.

The earthfall is considered to have been caused by so-called quick clay which may have been shifted by heavy rain in previous days.

https://www.dw.com/en/norway-landslide-10-still-missing-after-dozens-of-homes-crushed/a-56102550

[Adam Peter]

Plywood Satellite Cleared for Space Launch

Quote

The WISA Woodsat could reduce space debris by using materials that will burn as they fall back into Earth’s atmosphere.

A tiny Finnish cubesat could make history later this year as the world’s first plywood satellite—and it will even have a selfie stick to record the moment. 

The WISA Woodsat is being developed by Finland-based Arctic Astronautics, Ltd.; the European Space Agency, or ESA; and Finland-based forester UPM, maker of WISA plywood. 

On July 9, after technical testing of the Woodsat’s birch-plywood outer shell, the ESA certified it for flight. 

 

[Ssnake]

Aluminum burns up on reentry too.

Reentry isn't the problem. It's the debris that stays up for centuries and creates more debris cascades.

[sunday]

Not the first time wood has been used in spacecraft. Try to google "wood as reentry heat shield material", without quotes

[rmgill]

On 10/23/2020 at 6:18 AM, wendist said:

For the 80% of the Swedish population that has Swedish ancestry, yeah pretty much. Though some of the stuff is perhaps more north european rather than specifically scandinavian, like binge drinking. The biggest stereotype is, as they mention themselves in the video, the line up for the video. We don't all look like that, not even among the 80%. An interesting question is if immigrants change when they live here. Lets say you have an Italian immigrant who have a son born in Sweden, that son then spends his first 20 years here but also learn fluent Italian from his parents. If he would visit Italy and socialise with the locals, would he then stick out much? Would he appear "Swedish" to them despite his Italian look and language skills? Would he have that "typical" scandinavian shell that they talk about in the video or does that perhaps take longer to develop? One thing is for sure, the way the world looks like today this video will get more and more outdated as the years go bye. 

I've talked with my Sister about this. She has friends who are of Mexican ancestry, are US citizens by way of either birth or naturalization and THEY are outcasts among Mexicans. My sister and those friends live 30 minutes from the border. To the point of the apparent difference, it's enough that the Mexican American is targeted for being given drinks to easily kidnap them and rob them. 

This would be like someone who lived in Russia and who moved to Finland as a teen, who's Russian stopped sounding very much like Russian and Russians could tell.

So, yeah, your hypothetical Italian would eventually not seem as Italian after a time. 

[Adam Peter]

23 hours ago, Ssnake said:

Aluminum burns up on reentry too.

Reentry isn't the problem. It's the debris that stays up for centuries and creates more debris cascades.

I think burnt wood is healthier than metal vapors.

22 hours ago, sunday said:

Not the first time wood has been used in spacecraft. Try to google "wood as reentry heat shield material", without quotes

I think the news here is that it is almost fully plywood construct. Only the frame and the camera boom is thin metal. It failed a few vibration and rigidity tests before, I think, due to this.

[sunday]

59 minutes ago, Adam Peter said:

I think the news here is that it is almost fully plywood construct. Only the frame and the camera boom is thin metal. It failed a few vibration and rigidity tests before, I think, due to this.

That would be remarkable, indeed. Still, some woods have a quite high ratio strength/weight.

[rmgill]

2 hours ago, Adam Peter said:

I think burnt wood is healthier than metal vapors.

Healthier? How does that work into calculus? 

And, no...it's probably not considering the CO, methanes, VOCs, Metals, oxides, dioxides, acids, etc. 

https://www.thoughtco.com/smoke-chemistry-607309#:~:text=In addition to the chemicals listed in the,include formaldehyde%2C acrolein%2C propionaldehyde%2C butyraldehyde%2C acetaldehyde%2C and furfural.
 

2 hours ago, Adam Peter said:

I think the news here is that it is almost fully plywood construct. Only the frame and the camera boom is thin metal. It failed a few vibration and rigidity tests before, I think, due to this.

One of the things about space flight is making sure the materials can withstand the environment. Wood in space? How's it deal with the temperature extremes and radiation?