Had two reasons to go out today, a parcel to post and also to check that the tyre pressure was not misbehaving.
Tyre seems ok, thank goodness! I went to a different place than usual thinking to go to a café that I haven't tried before. But it turned out that it doesn't open until 11 and I got there at about 10. Couldn't be bothered to hang around that long so went to a charity shop to buy a couple of rose painted bowls as gifts for friends in the UK. Also bought a bracelet and earrings.
I've been trying to reorganize some big external disks so that I can take a full backup of my laptop before upgrading to a newer version of Linux Mint. But it's been taking so long that I decided to just buy a new disk. It turns out that with the exchange rate at the moment that such things are cheaper here than in the UK. I don't understand that, median income is definitely lower in the UK than here yet the price of computer gear seems to be a larger proportion of that income in the UK. Surely in a market fifteen times larger there should be more competition forcing the prices down?
According to https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/median-income-by-country median income in the UK is 16 k PPP international dollars whereas in Norway it is 23 k.
I don't know how that relates to GBP and NOK though. According to https://www.avtrinity.com/uk-average-salary the median income in the UK is just short of 30 kGBP. According to https://qery.no/data-tracker-norwegian-labour-market/earnings-wages/ median income in Norway is 51 kNOK per month or about 612 kGBP per year; at the current exchange rate that's 45 kGBP per year.
I know that computer related gear is not made in either country but it still seems that UK consumers are getting a raw deal, after all wages also contribute to the prices.
It's the eve of Constitution Day here, usually referred to as 17. mai, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Day_(Norway)
So it's fitting to read of proposed amendments to strengthen the independence of the courts. And also to read of the reasons why it is happening now and that it is likely to be passed unanimously:
Snart endres Grunnloven: Skal beskytte domstolene mot kuppmakere
Stortinget kommer neste uke trolig til å gjøre de største endringene om domstoler i Grunnloven siden 1814. Målet: beskytte domstolene mot kupp.
– I dag skinner solen i Norge. Alt er fredelig og stabilt. Det er på solskinnsdagene vi må forberede oss på de urolige tidene, sier Høyres Peter Frølich til VG. .. Frølich har derfor foreslått fem endringer i Grunnloven for å sikre domstolenes uavhengighet i Norge. .. – Det er laget for å stoppe opportunister, populister og kuppmakere. Jeg setter ikke likhetstegn mellom det og andre lands statsledere. De nye grunnlovsendringene er et bolverk mot de som måtte prøve å bruke domstolene som et verktøy for egen vinning, sier han. .. – Dette er nødvendig for å beskytte oss mot populister og politikere som forsøker å kuppe domstolene og bruke dem som instrument for maktmisbruk, sier Frølich til .. De fem forslagene skal sikre at en fremtidig regjering ikke kan lage nye, politiske domstoler eller fylle opp Høyesterett med sine egne folk. .. Poenget er å stoppe muligheten til å påvirke Høyesterett gjennom såkalt «court packing», hvor en regjering utnevner ekstra dommere for å manipulere maktbalansen i Høyesterett. .. – Vi er mye mer sårbare enn vi tror. I dag er mange av reglene bare fastsatt av vanlig lov. Hvis man får et vanlig flertall, kan man plutselig få dypt udemokratiske endringer. Det er mye vanskeligere å endre grunnloven, sier han. .. – Det viktigste vi har i et demokrati er mindretallsvern, altså at rettsstaten kan beskytte mindretallet. Hvis domstolene bare blir et politisk redskap, så er rettsstaten død. Mindretallet må ha en reell beskyttelse mot flertallets tyranni, sier han. .. – Det er ingen som mener at domstolenes uavhengighet i Norge er i fare i dag eller ser skyer i horisonten. Men den dagen man trenger det, så er det for sent å sette i gang en slik prosess. Nå får vi sikret fremtidige generasjoner det samme vernet som vi har hatt,
Translation by Google (too lazy to type my own!). And this is proposed by a politician from Høyre, the nearest equivalent to the British Conservative party.
Soon the Constitution will be changed: Shall protect the courts against coup plotters
Next week, the Storting will probably make the biggest changes to the courts in the Constitution since 1814. The aim: to protect the courts from coups.
- Today the sun is shining in Norway. Everything is peaceful and stable. It is on the sunny days that we must prepare for the troubled times, says Høyre's Peter Frølich to VG. .. Frølich has therefore proposed five amendments to the Constitution to ensure the independence of the courts in Norway. .. - It is designed to stop opportunists, populists and coup plotters. I do not equate it with other countries' heads of state. The new constitutional amendments are a bulwark against those who might try to use the courts as a tool for their own gain, he says. .. - This is necessary to protect us from populists and politicians who try to overthrow the courts and use them as instruments for abuse of power, says Frølich to .. The five proposals will ensure that a future government cannot create new, political courts or fill up the Supreme Court with its own people. .. The point is to stop the possibility of influencing the Supreme Court through so-called "court packing", where a government appoints extra judges to manipulate the balance of power in the Supreme Court. .. - We are much more vulnerable than we think. Today, many of the rules are only laid down by common law. If you get a simple majority, you can suddenly get profoundly undemocratic changes. It is much more difficult to change the constitution, he says. .. - The most important thing we have in a democracy is minority protection, meaning that the rule of law can protect the minority. If the courts become only a political tool, then the rule of law is dead. The minority must have real protection against the tyranny of the majority, he says. .. - No one believes that the independence of the courts in Norway is in danger today or sees clouds on the horizon. But on the day you need it, it is too late to initiate such a process. Now we can ensure future generations the same protection that we have had,
