#verdict is norwegian

[norvgchar]

Deadlock from Valorant is a Norwegian character, whose real name is Iselin, a typical Norwegian name that was popular through 1990 to 2010.

Iselin is voiced by voice actress is Nora Gjestvang, a Norwegian voice actress who appears to be from the Norwegian district Romerike. Gjestvang speaks in a typical eastern Norwegian or capital-adjacent dialect, which is carried over to the character. Gjestvang has previously been the Norwegian voices for characters like Moana/Vaiana (from Disney’s Moana/Vaiana) and Tulip Olsen (from Infinity Train). Compared to other Norwegian media, her type of voice, way of speaking and dialect are very commonly seen in television series and movies aimed at a younger audience.

In the introductory cinematic for Iselin, as well as in-game, there is Norwegian dialogue. The cinematic’s Norwegian lines are grammatically correct, but they remain stiff, unnatural and unexpected. It is clear, however, that the voice actors hired are Norwegian speakers. Examples of these weird lines are such as “Du blir tilintetgjort!”, roughly translating to “You are being annihilated!”, when Deadlock attacks a polar bear on Svalbard.

In-game, the voice lines remain short and leave little room for cringe, though they are full of swears. In one of the voice lines, she says her own name, “Iselin”, in a weird fashion. Otherwise, there seems to be voice lines that randomly insert Norwegian in an unnatural fashion, but they’re there none-the-less. Some of the lines seem to be pieced together or like an off-take. The voice actress, Gjestvang, seems to have an issue with the word “smørøyet” (”the butter eye”, a term used here as “in the middle”/”bullseye”), which she pronounces “smørje”. Spoken Norwegian is not standardized the same way as written Norwegian, and this might be a weird eastern European dialect thing. Her accent in English is pretty on-point, and is offensively apparent or German.

There is not a lot of lore available for Iselin. She is or was part of a fictional group called Ståljeger (”steel hunter”), and doesn’t seem to be fond of talking to strangers.

Verdict: Her ass IS Norwegian.

Fun fact: While Norwegian voice actors are often omitted when it comes to portraying Norwegian characters, Valorant has a Swedish character, Breach, voiced by Norwegian-American David Menkin from Moss, Norway. This makes Nora Gjestvang the second Norwegian voice actor for player characters in Valorant, which is two more than video games usually have!

[therealvinelle]

Can I hear your opinions on rita skeeter?

You know how some stories have that only sane man, the one person who isn't impressed by our dashing main characters or who's living in a different genre and rated story? The one, typically a fan favorite, character who has a fundamentally different perspective. They can also, shortly put, be the "this is stupid and you're stupid" character.

The NBC Hannibal show has Freddie Lounds ("I'm a bad, bad man", Will threatens her. He is then surprised when she runs a feature on the FBI hiring a creep to come to crime scenes and pretend he's a serial killer.) The Vampire Diaries had Elijah (he isn't a great example of this, but legacy fans will remember all the jokes about how the reason the writers never put him in episodes was because he'd have solved all the characters' stupid problems within twenty minutes and there would be no plot for the rest of the season. Elijah was perceived to be living in a different type of show than the rest of the teen drama cast), and there are some who think that this was Snape for Harry Potter.

They are wrong.

Rita, my dove

Let's take a look at a few things Rita prints over the course of canon, where we have an insight into what actually happened and know precidely what she printed. I have my copy of Goblet of Fire with me, it's in Norwegian so I'll be translating back to English but I trust that's alright.

The Quidditch world cup incident

What we know happened:

The British Ministry was responsible for the event. It was highly prestigious, with foreign leaders attending and people from all over the world camped out near the stadion. After the first match there's celebrations, which turns into a riot. Tents are set on fire, people are chased through the camp grounds, and there's total chaos where nobody knows where their loved ones are. The riot soon turns into a homage to Voldemort, with rioters in Death Eater uniforms tormenting the Muggles living nearby and someone putting up the Dark Mark.

Arthur Weasley, who works in the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts (which is admittedly part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement), is sent to make a statement on the Ministry's behalf to the terrified witches and wizards hiding.

What Skeeter reports:

Headlining "TERROR AT THE WORLD CUP" (me translating), with an image of the Dark Mark, Rita Skeeter writes (this is Arthur skimming): "Ministry blunders... culprits not apprehended... lax security... Dark wizards running unchecked... national disgrace..." (original English from the wiki)

A full section (and this is me translating again): "If the terrified witches and wizards who waited for information while they hid in the woods had hoped for any sort of reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sorely disappointed. A department spokesman, who only showed up long after the Dark Mark had appeared, claimed no one had been injured but refused to give further information. It remains to be seen if this statement will quell the rumors that several bodies were seen being recovered from the woods an hour later."

Verdict

All of this is accurate, except the last sentence.

Nobody was killed in the incident. However, Skeeter was acting on the information available to her, and she makes it clear this last part is unconfirmed. Further, I'm going to come out in her defense and say that Skeeter, writing an article critical of the Ministry in a community with a very loose sense of free speech, can't take Arthur Weasley at his vague word and should refer to her own sense of judgement when deciding whether the rumors are credible enough to print or not.

As it is, a riot in a crowded area at night with people who dressed like Death Eaters, where the Dark Mark was fired into the sky, where mass panic erupted, in a world where children can produce deadly magic with their wands, could easily have led to casualties. I don't think it was a far leap for Skeeter that people might have died, and the Ministry didn't want to admit as much.

Notice her phrasing (and yes, I know you're reading my translation) when she talks about the Ministry: "It remains to be seen if this statement will quell the rumors that several bodies were seen being recovered from the woods an hour later." Not, "It remains to be seen whether the rumors that several bodies were seen being recovered from the woods an hour later were true.", or any type of phrasing indicating that the truth will out. Only rumors that may or may not be quelled.

Knowing that the Wizarding World doesn't appear to be a functional nor accountable democracy, that things like statistics likely don't exist (who will be your statistician if there is no basic math education? How will wizards interpret statistics if they don't understand basic maths, what use are error margins and percentages to them? This is important, because without statistics there is also no need to collect numbers - how many students take the core classes, how many are employed after X years, how many citizens die in a given year and of what causes... you see where I'm going with this), and that Arthur gets so defensive when reading legitimate criticism of his Ministry (not even his department or jurisdiction, mind, and Skeeter anonymized him), indicates a fraught understanding of governmental accountability and transparency.

In other words, who can say if anybody died that night. Arthur himself had gone to bed with his family as soon as the chaos was under control, and there was no tally after the riot, no controlled evacuation, nothing. Skeeter wasn't wrong for publishing what she herself clarified was speculation, either way I'm hard pressed to see her as a villain for putting the Ministry under pressure, in fact I have to wonder if this kind of pressure is necessary to get them to admit things they'd otherwise shove under the carpet.

Back to Arthur Weasley. In response to this article he says to his family (me translating again): "Molly, I must go to the office. Killing this is going to take some time."

Now, I know real governments have to cry over scandals that take time to move past as well: however, what are people upset over? What's the scandal?

Oh, yes, that the Ministry wasn't able to prevent a riot at a large sports event, flubbed completely once it had begun, and failed to give the people any kind of useful or timely information. All of that is true. The only part that isn't true, would be dispelled if they'd only put out a statement saying "no one was killed". The only reason why one such statement wouldn't work is if Ministry statements are not considered trustworthy - and this is where we return to the above.

So far, so good on Rita Skeeter, and so bad on Arthur who, going by this section, questions the Ministry less than Bellatrix Lestrange questions Voldemort.

Interlude: Percy and the vampires

While the article about the World Cup is read, Percy jumps in with an anecdote about Skeeter.

"That woman is always out to slander the Ministry," Percy said angrily. "Last week she claimed we waster our time fooling around with cauldron thickness when we should be extinguishing vampires! As though it is not expressedly stated in Guidelines for treatment of non-wizard halfhumans that-"

I'm not going to make any guesses as to what precisely Skeeter's criticism was, because Percy is angry and venting to his family, which doesn't make him likely to present her argument fairly. Who knows what, specifically, she criticized and why and what she asked for in her article. What we do know is that she questioned Ministry priorities and resource allotment, and Percy takes it personally, he gets angry about it. Hostility and defensiveness is the gut reaction.

More damningly, "that woman is always out to slander the Ministry" implies no one else is doing it.

Your star is rising, Rita.

Oh no, post got long

And this is the part where I'd go on to her interview with Harry and subsequent articles, and later on Dumbledore, but I'm realizing that would make this post a very long and decentralized mess.

Will cover it in follow up posts: today is for Rita vs. the Ministry and how the Weasleys think Muggles are so quaint with their democracricy and freedom of speech, teehee that's silly.

[spacebubblehomebase]

Love your art and can't wait for more HHstargazers!!! one question... how tf do you pronounce "Magne" cause as I read i just replace it with"morningstar" in my head but i dont like doing that lol

I'm really glad you're excited about my AU ^v^, but as for how to pronounce "Magne"... Sorry. But it seems I'm just as lost as you are in this. 😅👉👈 Because while I have my own interpretation based on my acquired accent, apparently there's more than one way to say it! Depending if you're French, American, or Norwegian just to name some examples. I've heard the different ways people read it out loud, along with its different meanings, and my verdict ended up being: It's fine as long as you tried. XD There doesn't seem to be a universal way of speaking it as I've only seen people be as confused as us (but if there is, I may have also missed it) and it just doesn't seem worth stressing about atm. Maybe someone else would know better, but personally, I pronounce it as "Magh-Neh" just cause my Filipino reading comprehension first thought of it that way and I stuck with it. Again, sorry I couldn't help more. TvT But even the owner of the name won't tell me anything useful. Damn you, Luci "birb" Magne!!! /jk -Bubbly💙

[crossdreamers]

The Norwegian Supreme Court Confirms Conviction Against Transphobe

Norway’s parliament outlawed hate speech against transgender people back in 2020, expanding a law that had protected gay and lesbian people since 1981. Now the Norwegian Supreme Court has confirmed that it takes this part of the law seriously.

The hate crime law now also covers “trans persons and others who have a gender identity or a gender expression that contradicts the expectations found in their environment.” 

A 53 year old man from the Bergen region in Norway had been given a prison sentence and a fine for transphobic hate speech, a verdict that made its way up to the Supreme Court.

Norwegian transgender LGBT+ activist Christine Marie Jentoft reports on twitter:

“Norway now has its first Supreme Court decision regarding hate speech on the basis of gender identity and gender expression. The Supreme Court upheld that the person responsible was guilty of hate speech.

Gender identity and gender expression came into the law in 2021 and shortly after a trans woman reported a man for hate speech after an interaction on Facebook. They had argued and the man had said that (CW: transphobic language):

- Perverted man-pigs who insist that they are little girls have no defamatory power, strictly speaking. - Do you really think that a single person thinks you are a woman and not an old man with weird fantasies.

- Having said that, it is incomprehensible to me that the authorities still allow you to have care responsibilities for children. - ‘B’ [referring to the victims legal name] does not exist. It is a sick fantasy in C's mind. [C refers to the victim’s deadname].”

The man was first convicted in the District Court in the West of Norway, then it was appealed to the Court of Appeals, who upheld the verdict.

After being appealed again to the Supreme Court, they upheld the verdict, but lowered the sentence to 15 days prison, but with a probation time of two years not needing to serve the time, and a fine of 15 000 NOK.”

This is about harassment, not free speech

The question was whether the statements were punishable under paragraph 185 of the Penal Code, which among other things covers hate speech made because of a person's gender identity or gender expression.

The Supreme Court states that the threshold for punishment is the same for all the groups protected under this law. 

Anti-trans activists have tried to pain the court’s decision as an attack on free speech. The court has clearly been prepared for such an argument and  underlines that there is a large scope for statements related to gender identity and gender expression. What the provision covers is typically incitement and bullying with gross denigration of a person or a group as a result of their gender identity and gender expression.

The Supreme Court concludes that the comments the defendant had made on Facebook were qualified as offensive and punishable, confirming the verdicts made by the District Court and the Court of Appeal. 

Link to the statement from the Norwegian supreme court, and the link to the verdict (in Norwegian). 

Crossposted on Medium.

[amber-tortoiseshell]

White - w

Genotype: __ __ __ __ __ __/_- __ __ W_

Black golden blotched tabby - ny 22

Genotype: A_ D_ E_ ii mcmc oo/o- spsp titi ww + wide band

Golden is a rare color in norwegian forest cats, and I had problems finding a photo for the tournament. The cat on the picture was labelled golden inconsistently, and unfortunately i'm not sure what was the final verdict about him, golden or not. Imagine it golden, please.

(What do these letters mean?)

[plethoraworldatlas]

War, conflict, and environmental disasters displaced a record 75.9 million people from their homes at the end of 2023, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center reported Tuesday.

The vast majority of the displaced—68.3 million—were forced from their homes due to conflicts, the highest number since data became available 15 years ago.

"Millions of families are having their lives torn apart by conflict and violence," Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council—which houses IDMC—said in a statement. "We have never, ever recorded so many people forced away from their homes and communities. It is a damning verdict on the failures of conflict prevention and peacemaking

The IDMC publishes its Global Report on Internal Displacement every year, which is considered the definitive source for data on internal displacements worldwide. This year's report notes that the number of people displaced within their own countries increased by 51% in the last five years while the number displaced by conflict alone swelled by 49%, spiking in 2022 and 2023. The uptick was primarily due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine as well as renewed or ongoing conflicts in Congo, Ethiopia, and Sudan.

"Over the past two years, we've seen alarming new levels of people having to flee their homes due to conflict and violence, even in regions where the trend had been improving," said IDMC director Alexandra Bilak. "Conflict, and the devastation it leaves behind, is keeping millions from re-building their lives, often for years on end."

In addition to tracking the number of displaced people, the IDMC also looked at the total number of new displacements in 2023. It recorded 46.9 million new movements—20.5 million due to war and conflict and 26.4 million due to natural disasters.

"As the planet grapples with conflicts and disasters, the staggering numbers of 47 million new internal displacements tells a harrowing tale," International Organization for Migration Deputy Director General Ugochi Daniels said in a statement. "This report is a stark reminder of the urgent and coordinated need to expand disaster risk reduction, support peacebuilding, ensure the protection of human rights, and, whenever possible, prevent the displacement before it happens."

Of the 20.5 million conflict-driven displacements last year, nearly two-thirds were due to violence in Sudan, Congo, and Palestine.

[beardedmrbean]

Neo-Nazi Anders Brevik, who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011, has lost his case against the state in a bid to end his years of isolation in prison.

Breivik had sued the Norwegian authorities, claiming his conditions were "inhumane" and he was suicidal.

But a court ruled on Thursday that Breivik's sentencing terms were "not a violation of human rights".

Breivik's lawyer said his client was disappointed with the outcome and would appeal against the latest judgment.

He has been held in isolation ever since he killed eight people with a car bomb and shot dead another 69, most of them teenagers, at a summer youth camp on the island of Utoeya on 22 July 2011.

He is currently serving a 21-year sentence, the maximum a court in Norway can impose, though it can be extended for as long as he is deemed a threat.

His lawyers claimed he had been living in a "completely locked world" and did "not wish to be alive any more". They had asked the court to lift restrictions on his correspondence with the outside world.

But judges at the Oslo District Court on Thursday said the restrictions placed on Breivik's communications were justified because he remained a danger to society.

They ruled that he enjoyed "relatively great freedom" at the facility and had access to many services in his everyday life.

"He studies and works on his political projects," the verdict said.

Norway attacks: The victims

Norway mass killer Breivik sues over jail isolation

Mass murderer Breivik loses rights case

Oeystein Storrvi, Breivik's lawyer, told Reuters: "He has been in isolation for 12 years and easing of his conditions is vital for his wellbeing in the prison."

Breivik cried during his testimony in January, claiming he was sorry for the attack and that his life had become a nightmare that had left him suicidal.

But the following day, a psychologist told the court that she did not consider him to be depressed and there was a "low risk" of suicide.

Now aged 45, Breivik currently spends his time in a dedicated section of Ringerike prison - located on the shores of the lake that surrounds Utoeya.

At the prison, Breivik has access to a training room, kitchen, TV room and a bathroom.

Many of those killed on the island were teenagers involved with the Norwegian Labour Party's youth wing, the AUF. The attacks remain Norway's worst peacetime atrocity.

Breivik has challenged the terms of his sentence before, winning part of his human rights case against the Norwegian state in 2016 before it was overturned the following year.

He unsuccessfully applied for parole in 2022, with the court ruling he had not changed and remained a risk to society.

[ca-dmv-bot]

Customer: NORWEGIAN CITY DMV: AMMO Verdict: ACCEPTED

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

#15yrsago Canadian Industry Minister Jim Prentice loads the DMCA, aims it at Canada’s temple, and pulls the trigger https://web.archive.org/web/20080612120601/http://www.ic.gc.ca/cmb/welcomeic.nsf/0365f77a8a847e1e8525655d006e1f91/85256a5d006b9720852574650065cf5b!OpenDocument

#15yrsago One-click site to tell Amazon that you don’t want Audible DRM https://web.archive.org/web/20080612125539/http://callanaudible.org/

#15yrsago Sabotage manual from 1944 advises acting like an average 2008 manager https://web.archive.org/web/20080715195004/community.e2conf.com/servlet/JiveServlet/download/1090-5-1190/OSS Simple Sabotage Manual.pdf

#15yrsago Linda Stone on time management https://www.huffpost.com/entry/is-it-time-to-retire-the_b_106624

#15yrsago William Gibson interviewed on IO9 https://gizmodo.com/william-gibson-talks-to-io9-about-canada-draft-dodging-5015137

#10yrsago Ai Wei Wei on Prism https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/11/nsa-surveillance-us-behaving-like-china

#10yrsago Stopwatching.us: Internet companies and civil liberties groups call for investigation into the surveillance state https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/06/86-civil-liberties-groups-and-internet-companies-demand-end-nsa-spying

#10yrsago Edward Snowden checks out of hotel, whereabouts unknown https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-22850901

#10yrsago Bruce Sterling Augmented World keynote speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohatuq8tekk

#10yrsago Hugh Howey on why he favors self-publishing https://www.salon.com/2013/04/04/hugh_howey_self_publishing_is_the_future_and_great_for_writers/

#5yrsago Norwegian court orders volunteers to take down public domain court verdicts and pay copyright troll’s legal bills https://www.wiumlie.no/2018/rettspraksis/06-11-blog.html

#5yrsago UK security minister proposes “Digital IDs” to enforce online civility https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/online-digital-identification-mob-rule-online-security-minister-ben-wallace-a8390841.html

#5yrsago Infographic: buying games vs pirating them https://www.deviantart.com/dnd01/art/Why-DRM-is-bad-for-the-customer-pdf-file-748886029

#5yrsago Trump won’t stop tearing up official papers so the White House archives employ a staff to tape them back together for the National Archives https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/10/trump-papers-filing-system-635164

#5yrsago British army targeted “stressed” 16-year-olds on exam-results day with Facebook recruitment ads https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-army-recruit-soldiers-gcse-results-facebook-twitter-child-soliders-international-a8390961.html

[xjmlm]

“The social links that hold people together in the modern world, even if in positions of subjugation, are fraying, and in some places, have broken entirely. All of this is taking place on a planet that is heating up, with concentrations of greenhouse gases rising rapidly since 1950. The connection between global warming and swelling industrial output is clear. The factory system is not the kernel of a future society, but a machine producing no-future. These are not merely political consequences of neo liberalism; they are structural features of the capitalist mode of production in our time.” — Endnotes

"An even greater testament to the centrality of industrialization to development can be found in the historical experiences of countries that have successfully developed. Very few economies have gone from poor to rich without achieving a large manufacturing share as a percentage of both employment and GDP. About 95 percent of economies that have achieved high-income status passed through such a period of high manufacturing concentration: as one study of high-income countries’ historical trajectories found, “achieving a manufacturing employment share of 18–20 [percent] has been almost sufficient and absolutely necessary . . . for achieving high-income status.”4 Justin Yifu Lin, the World Bank’s former chief economist, offers a decisive verdict: “except for a few oil-exporting countries, no countries have ever gotten rich without industrialization first.” And those oil-exporting countries, like Norway or Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf autocracies, were quite exceptional; the resource path to development offers far more failures (Iraq, Mozambique, the Congo) than Norwegian-style triumphs, or even middling success stories like Gabon or Botswana. For most of the world, there is no real path to development that does not run through manufacturing."

https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2022/11/the-long-slow-death-of-global-development/

[norvgchar]

The Manzanita Outpost is a location in Red Dead Redemption 2. The location also exists in Red Dead Online and the original Red Dead Redemption, but the second installation of the series includes a Norwegian-inspired narrative.

The player character is able to interact with several non-player characters that are supposed to be Norwegian settlers from Korshamn, a southern island part of today's Lyngdal municipality (Norwegian: "kommune") and Agder county ("fylke"), in the southern-most part of Norway.

Upon reviewing a YouTube video showcasing some of the non-player character banter, I am not immediately offended by their accents when speaking English. However, much like an author who doesn't know how to write bilingual characters, they switch from solid English to random Norwegian sentences on a line-to-line basis.

It sounds as if most of the voice actors are capable of speaking Norwegian, though seem to mostly be from the capital. Yours truly lives somewhat close to Lyngdal, and it is quite jarring to hear the voices of these 1800s–early 1900s Norwegians, supposedly from a small village far from the capital, speak with a modern Oslo dialect. It's worth noting that Lyngdal and Oslo are about five hours apart by driving today, or four days of walking (according to Google Maps). This also somewhat extends to their accents in English, though Some of the lines they're saying are also a bit strange, such as the farewells "Ta vare på deg selv!" ("Take care of yourself!") and "Ses snart!" (approx. "See you soon!"). The latter line is also delivered oddly, even if Oslo-influenced, and I would request a retake if I were there. The worst offender, which I suspect is not given a Norwegian voice actor, is the blonde character in a blue tunic (viking clothes?).

The game also features Norwegian text in the form of a newspaper clipping and a handwritten note. While the text is mostly grammatically correct by today's standard, this was before many language reforms that lead to the modern day Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk. Comparing with a newspaper from the nearby Lindesnes in 1984, among the errors are av ("of") instead of the then-present af, the usage of the letter å instead of the then-present aa, and fellesskap instead of the then-present fællesskab. The font used in the newspaper clipping is also very modern, and especially the letter s looks surprising. A minor gripe, the article's title, "Grusomme Drap i Lyngdal", is expected to be non-capitalized, such as "Grusomme drap i Lyngdal".

I have not dissected the handwritten note as closely, the perfectly circular circle on top of the letter å is incredibly funny to me.

Verdict: Their asses ARE Norwegian, but lazily so.

The characters' language has no semblance of when or where they're from. I would expect them to, if not copying an older Lyngdal dialect, at least mimic the modern equivalent. The least they could do is hire actors who are willing to use a dialect from the former county Vest-Agder or Agder as a whole. They should also have taken inspiration from newspapers and written language at the time. The whole thing seems naïvely executed to me.

[scotianostra]

On 7th July 1307 King Edward I of England died on his last punitive expedition to Scotland at Burgh-on-Sands, near Carlisle. 

The epitaph to him in Westminster Abbey, London, reads Edwardus Primus Scotorum Malleus hic est. - Edward the First, hammer of the Scots.

Apart from the wars of Independence Edward is remembered with disdain in Scotland for the theft of The Stone of Destiny from Moot Hill at Scone.In 1287 Alexander III, King of Scots, died suddenly after falling from his horse at Kinghorn. The succession crisis that followed presented Edward with a golden opportunity to expand on his conquest of Wales.With the absence of an immediate heir, the Scots throne looked likely to pass to Alexander’s infant granddaughter, Margaret (the ‘Maid of Norway’) – the daughter of the King of Norway.

Rival Scottish claims for the right to succeed as the next monarch led to the Norwegians approaching Edward. Edward planned to wed his own son Edward to Margaret and thus control Scotland via matrimonial rights.

The Scots nobles, fearful of such a takeover, agreed that Margaret should be queen – but at the expense of Edward’s marriage plans. Events were thrown into turmoil when Margaret died en route to Scotland.With the succession crisis still looming large and rival claimants still in fierce competition the Guardians of Scotland needed to find someone to adjudicate the claims and help break the deadlock. The perfect candidate was Edward.

As an internationally respected king and a recognised expert on legal matters of state Edward was a logical choice. With the benefit of hindsight this may seem to be the worst of decisions until you consider that England and Scotland had enjoyed an extended period of relatively peaceful co-existence. Claims of English overlordship over Scotland were seen to be a thing of the distant past. The Guardians were in for a very rude shock.In a series of political manouverings Edward insisted that he be recognised as feudal overlord of the Scots before a new Scots king be appointed. The Guardians refused but Edward, the legal expert, got his wish.

While there were two rival claimants (Robert Bruce and John Balliol) Edward’s role was adjudicate. If there were more than two then, under medieval law, only a judge could be expected to pronounce a verdict. As a judge Edward had to have authority – and in royal matters authority meant overlordship.

Edward found other claimants for the vacant throne to put pressure on Bruce and Balliol. The plan worked and one by one they came forward to swear allegiance. From that point, with all principle claimants as his vassals, it did not matter who became king. Ultimately Balliol took the crown.

Edward’s subsequent heavy-handed treatment of the Scots (demanding taxes and soldiers to help fight his wars) led to the first inklings of rebellion.

In 1295 the Scots signed a mutual aid treaty with France (later to be known as the Auld Alliance). This pact with Edward’s enemy brought about swift retaliation from Edward.

Edward destroyed Berwick, slaughtering thousands of the town’s inhabitants, before pushing deeper into scotland. The Scots met Edward in battle at Dunbar but was decisively beaten. In a similar tactic to those he had previously used to conquer Wales Edward stripped the country of its treasures and symbollic icons of nationhood as easily as he stripped Balliol of his status as king. Most notably the crown jewels and the Stone of Destiny was removed to be sent back to England. The message was clear – there was to be no other king in Scotland but Edward. Edward’s campaigning, however, had left him seriously short of funds. He could no-longer afford to build costly castles to control his new domain as he had in Wales. He was also not reckoning on coming up against some proud Scots Edward had underestimated us. Within a year rebellions to English control broke out – notably led by Andrew Murray in the north and William wallace in the south of the country. Edward left the matter of crushing the rebellion to his representative, John de Warenne, rather than take control personally. At Stirling Bridge Warenne’s force was routed by Wallace and Murray’s army.

Edward marches north and took control of his army and defeated Wallace’s army at Falkirk. Wallace was later captured and executed. Once again Edward assumed that Scotland was conquered.In Bruce Edward had met a formidable, ruthless and determined opponent Despite ill health and advancing years Edward, Hammer of the Scots, marched his army north to rid himself of Bruce once and for all.

In 1307, with Scotland in sight, Edward died at Burgh-on-Sands. The campaign for the conquest of Scotland passed on to his son, Edward II. The Scots were relieved to find that the brutal and effective military prowess displayed by the father were absent in the son. In 1314 Bruce routed a larger English force at Bannockburn. Recognition of Scotland’s sovereignty came years later in 1328.

On his death bed accounts credit Edward’s dying wish to be that his bones be left unburied as long as Scotland was unconquered they would have waited a long time if they had obeyed his wishes Scotland was never again to be conquered by English forces.

The picture shows a 16th-century illustration of Edward I presiding over Parliament. The scene shows Alexander III of Scotland and Llywelyn ap Gruffudd of Wales on either side of Edward; an episode that never actually occurred.

Among the pics are his memorial at Burgh Marsh, Cumbria, and a statue nearby.  

[worldrefugeeday]

Conflicts drive new record of 75.9 million people living in internal displacement.

Number of internally displaced people (IDPs) has grown 50% in last five years

Conflicts in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Palestine accounted for nearly two-thirds of new movements in 2023

3.4 million new movements in the Gaza Strip in the last quarter of 2023, leaving 1.7 million internally displaced by the end of the year

Conflict and violence in Sudan, Palestine and elsewhere drove the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) around the world to 75.9 million at the end of 2023, a new record, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), which published its annual Global Report on Internal Displacement today. Of the total, 68.3 million were displaced by conflict and violence and 7.7 million by disasters. Almost half, 46 per cent, of all IDPs live in sub-Saharan Africa.

In Sudan, the 9.1m people displaced at the end of the year was the most ever recorded in a single country since records began in 2008. Sudan's 6 million internal displacements, or forced movements, by conflict during 2023 were more than its previous 14 years combined and the second most ever recorded in one country after Ukraine's 16.9 million in 2022. In the Gaza Strip, IDMC calculated 3.4 million displacements in the last three months of 2023, which was 17 per cent of total conflict displacements worldwide during the year.

Alexandra Bilak, IDMC director, said the millions of people forced to flee in 2023 were just the "tip of the iceberg", adding to the tens of millions of IDPs already displaced from previous and ongoing conflicts, violence and disasters.

"Over the past two years, we've seen alarming new levels of people having to flee their homes due to conflict and violence, even in regions where the trend had been improving," said Ms Bilak. "Conflict, and the devastation it leaves behind, is keeping millions from rebuilding their lives, often for years on end."

In the past five years, the number of people living in internal displacement as a result of conflict and violence has increased by 22.6 million, or 49 per cent, with the two biggest increases in 2022 and 2023.

"Millions of families are having their lives torn apart by conflict and violence. We have never, ever recorded so many people forced away from their homes and communities. It is a damning verdict on the failures of conflict prevention and peace-making," said Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. "The suffering and the displacement last far beyond the news cycle. Too often their fate ends up in silence and neglect. The lack of protection and assistance that millions endure cannot be allowed to continue."

Floods, storms, earthquakes, wildfires and other disasters triggered 26.4 million displacements in 2023, the third highest annual total in the past ten years. The 7.7 million IDPs at the end of 2023 displaced by disasters is the second most since IDMC began recording this metric in 2019.

The 148 countries reporting disaster displacement include high-income countries such as Canada and New Zealand which reported their highest figures ever. Climate change is making some hazards more frequent and intense, such as cyclone Mocha in the Indian Ocean, Hurricane Otis in Mexico, storm Daniel in the Mediterranean and wildfires in Canada and Greece last summer. It is also making communities more vulnerable and addressing the underlying drivers of displacement more urgent.

"No country is immune to disaster displacement," said Ms Bilak. "But we can see a difference in how displacement affects people in countries that prepare and plan for its impacts and those that don't. Those that look at the data and make prevention, response and long-term development plans that consider displacement fare far better."

As in previous years, floods and storms caused the most disaster displacement, including in south-eastern Africa where cyclone Freddy triggered 1.4 million movements across six countries and territories. Earthquakes and volcanic activity triggered 6.1 million displacements in 2023, as many as in the past seven years combined. The earthquakes that struck Türkiye and Syria triggered 4.7 million displacements, one of the largest disaster displacement events since records began in 2008.

ENDS

2024 Global Report on Internal Displacement

Search and download the data (available 14 May 2024)

Join the press conference

IDMC will host a press conference at 11:00 CET in the XYZ room of the Centre de Conférence de Varembé (CCV), Rue de Varembé 9, 1202 Genève. Journalists may also participate via Zoom.

[cruel-nature-records]

Stunning review of St James Infirmary “Abandoned” on Monolith Cocktail

Thank you Brian!

[beardedmrbean]

TYRISTRAND, Norway (Reuters) - Lawyers for Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik told a court on Monday he was suffering from "deep depression" and no longer wanted to live as they launched a legal bid to lift his years of isolation in prison.

The far-right fanatic who killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting rampage in 2011 is suing the state, arguing that his prison conditions violate his human rights.

Among those watching the proceedings in a court room set up in a gym in Norway's the high-security Ringerike jail was Freddy Lie, one of whose daughters was shot dead by Brevik. Another daughter was wounded. "He must never come out again," Lie told Reuters.

Breivik walked into the hearing flanked by three security guards. Wearing a black suit, white shirt and brown tie, Breivik said nothing and sat impassively as his legal team laid out his case.

"He has been isolated for about 12 years ... He lives in a completely locked world," his lawyer, Oeystein Storrvik, told the judge

"He does not wish to be alive anymore," Storrvik added. In one incident in 2018, Breivik wrote the Norwegian words for "KILL ME" on the wall of his cell using his faeces, the lawyer said.

Breivik murdered eight people with a car bomb in Oslo then gunned down 69 others, most of them teenagers, at a Labour Party youth camp on July 22, 2011. It remains Norway's worst peacetime atrocity.

The 44-year-old is due to speak himself on Tuesday. He is also asking the court to lift restrictions on his correspondence with the outside world.

Lawyers representing the justice ministry say Breivik must be kept apart the rest of the prison population because of the continuing security threat he poses.

"An extraordinarily dangerous inmate requires extraordinary measures," lawyer Andreas Hjetland told the court on Monday.

"He is still proud of what he has done. He still holds the same ideological views," Hjetland said.

Breivik shook his head in disagreement.

BREIVIK SAYS HE CAN'T SPEAK TO MEDIA

Breivik spends his time in a dedicated section of Ringerike prison, with a training room, a kitchen, a TV room and a bathroom, pictures from a visit last month by news agency NTB showed.

Government lawyers said in a court filing that Breivik's isolation was "relative" as he has contact with guards, a priest, health professionals and, until recently, an outside volunteer that Breivik no longer wishes to see.

He also sees two inmates for an hour every other week, the lawyers said.

At the end of the first break in Monday's proceedings, Breivik turned to a guard, facing the media, and said he had been told by the head of the prison not to talk to reporters.

"It is not because I don't want to, it is because I can't," he said.

The judge will give a verdict in coming weeks. There is no jury.

Breivik is serving a 21-year sentence - the longest a Norwegian court can impose - which can be extended for as long as he is deemed a threat to society.

His prison is on the shore of Tyrifjorden lake, where the island of Utoeya, the site of Breivik's shooting spree, lies.

Breivik also sued the state in 2016, arguing it was breaching the European Convention on Human Rights, including sections saying no one should be subject to "torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment".

He initially won the case but that was overturned on appeal a year later before any restrictions were lifted.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 3.27

1309 – Pope Clement V imposes excommunication and interdiction on Venice, and a general prohibition of all commercial intercourse with Venice, which had seized on Ferrara, a papal fiefdom. 1329 – Pope John XXII issues his In Agro Dominico condemning some writings of Meister Eckhart as heretical. 1513 – Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León reaches the northern end of The Bahamas on his first voyage to Florida. 1601–1900 1625 – Charles I becomes King of England, Scotland and Ireland as well as claiming the title King of France. 1638 – The first of four destructive Calabrian earthquakes strikes southern Italy. Measuring magnitude 6.8 and assigned a Mercalli intensity of XI, it kills 10,000–30,000 people. 1782 – The Second Rockingham ministry assumes office in Great Britain and begins negotiations to end the American War of Independence. 1794 – The United States Government establishes a permanent navy and authorizes the building of six frigates. 1809 – Peninsular War: A combined Franco-Polish force defeats the Spanish in the Battle of Ciudad Real. 1814 – War of 1812: In central Alabama, U.S. forces under General Andrew Jackson defeat the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. 1836 – Texas Revolution: On the orders of General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican Army massacres 342 Texian Army POWs at Goliad, Texas. 1866 – President of the United States of America Andrew Johnson vetoes the Civil Rights Act of 1866. His veto is overridden by Congress and the bill passes into law on April 9. 1871 – The first international rugby football match, when Scotland defeats England in Edinburgh at Raeburn Place. 1884 – A mob in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States attacks members of a jury which had returned a verdict of manslaughter in what was seen as a clear case of murder; over the next few days the mob would riot and eventually destroy the courthouse. 1886 – Geronimo, Apache warrior, surrenders to the U.S. Army, ending the main phase of the Apache Wars. 1899 – Emilio Aguinaldo leads Filipino forces for the only time during the Philippine–American War at the Battle of Marilao River. 1901 – Philippine–American War: Emilio Aguinaldo, leader of the First Philippine Republic, is captured by the Americans. 1915 – Typhoid Mary, the first healthy carrier of disease ever identified in the United States, is put in quarantine for the second time, where she would remain for the rest of her life. 1918 – The National Council of Bessarabia proclaims union with the Kingdom of Romania. 1938 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Taierzhuang begins, resulting several weeks later in the war's first major Chinese victory over Japan. 1941 – World War II: Yugoslav Air Force officers topple the pro-Axis government in a bloodless coup. 1942 – The Holocaust: Nazi Germany and Vichy France begin the deportation of 65,000 Jews from Drancy internment camp to German extermination camps. 1943 – World War II: Battle of the Komandorski Islands: In the Aleutian Islands the battle begins when United States Navy forces intercept Japanese attempting to reinforce a garrison at Kiska. 1945 – World War II: Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan's ports and waterways begins. Argentina declares war on the Axis Powers. 1958 – Nikita Khrushchev becomes Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union. 1964 – The Good Friday earthquake, the most powerful earthquake recorded in North American history at a magnitude of 9.2 strikes Southcentral Alaska, killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage. 1975 – Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System begins. 1976 – The first section of the Washington Metro opens to the public. 1977 – Tenerife airport disaster: Two Boeing 747 airliners collide on a foggy runway on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 (all 248 on KLM and 335 on Pan Am). Sixty-one survived on the Pan Am flight. This is the deadliest aviation accident in history. 1980 – The Norwegian oil platform Alexander L. Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212. 1981 – The Solidarity movement in Poland stages a warning strike, in which at least 12 million Poles walk off their jobs for four hours. 1986 – A car bomb explodes outside Russell Street Police HQ in Melbourne, Australia, killing one police officer and injuring 21 people. 1990 – The United States begins broadcasting anti-Castro propaganda to Cuba on TV Martí. 1993 – Jiang Zemin is appointed President of the People's Republic of China. 1993 – Italian former minister and Christian Democracy leader Giulio Andreotti is accused of mafia allegiance by the tribunal of Palermo. 1998 – The Food and Drug Administration approves Viagra for use as a treatment for erectile dysfunction, the first pill to be approved for this condition in the United States. 1999 – Kosovo War: An American Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk is shot down by a Yugoslav Army SAM, the first and only Nighthawk to be lost in combat. 2000 – A Phillips Petroleum plant explosion in Pasadena, Texas kills one person and injures 71 others. 2002 – Passover massacre: A Palestinian suicide bomber kills 29 people at a Passover seder in Netanya, Israel. 2002 – Nanterre massacre: In Nanterre, France, a gunman opens fire at the end of a town council meeting, resulting in the deaths of eight councilors; 19 other people are injured. 2004 – HMS Scylla, a decommissioned Leander-class frigate, is sunk as an artificial reef off Cornwall, the first of its kind in Europe. 2009 – The dam forming Situ Gintung, an artificial lake in Indonesia, fails, killing at least 99 people. 2014 – Philippines signs a peace accord with the largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, ending decades of conflict. 2015 – Al-Shabab militants attack and temporarily occupy a Mogadishu hotel leaving at least 20 people dead. 2016 – A suicide blast in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, Lahore claims over 70 lives and leaves almost 300 others injured. The target of the bombing are Christians celebrating Easter. 2020 – North Macedonia becomes the 30th member of NATO.