Leading Liberal resigns with stinging attack on Sponheim (Dagbladet)

Aud Folkestad has resigned as Liberal Party deputy leader, saying that someone must shoulder responsibility for the party’s disastrous general election results. In reality this amounts to a stinging attack on Liberal Party chairman Lars Sponheim. "The whole of the leadership must take responsibility. Mr Sponheim has indicated he wishes to continue as party leader, so someone has to take the blame – and that someone is me," said Ms Folkestad.

Local authorities to revolutionize pay scheme (Aftenposten)

This spring’s wage negotiations could result in a complete revolution in the local government sector. Behind the scenes the Norwegian Association of Local Authorities (KS) and employee organizations have been working out a system where each local authority sets the salary level needed to fill vacant jobs. This means that the old fixed wage scales will be abandoned in favour of variable pay levels decided in a free market.

Real estate agents’ predictions make them a fortune (Dagbladet)

Almost all of Norway’s real estate agents are forecasting a boom in the housing market in the next few months. Rising prices translate into higher fees for the realtors. If their forecasts materialize, it will mean continued bumper revenues for the country’s real estate agents. A high volume of transactions and rising prices – such as we have seen in the past eight years – are extremely well suited to the real estate agents’ system of fees. Consumer Ombudsman Bjørn Erik Thon is not convinced that a panel of realtors should forecast developments in house prices on a month by month basis. He believes that what the realtors think does have an impact on prices.

Sharp criticism of Norway’s Olympic preparations: Pure selfishness and greed (Vårt Land)

Critics have condemned Norway’s preparations for the forthcoming Winter Olympics. Professor Per Fugelli describes the Norwegian Olympic team’s decision to replace its ventilation system as macabre. Steinar Lem of The Future In Our Hands calls the Norwegians’ fear of microbes hysterical.

Free nursery places for immigrant children being considered (Dagsavisen)

The Oslo borough, Gamle Oslo, which has a large immigrant population, offers free nursery places to non-Norwegian four and five-year-olds. Experience with this scheme is so good that Children and Family Affairs Minister Laila Dåvøy is now thinking of extending it to the rest of the country. "I think that this is a positive measure which works well," said Ms Dåvøy, who will publish a comprehensive review of the scheme next week.

Will sell his shares if Røkke wins (Dagens Næringsliv)

Nils Erling Ødegaard of Fondsfinans has said he will sell his shares in stock market listed companies if the court upholds Kjell Inge Røkke’s claim and values Aker RGI’s shares at their stock market value. Mr Ødegaard believes the court’s decision will create a significant precedence for future cases involving the compulsory redemption of minority-held shares. He fears the consequences if the court upholds Mr Røkke’s claim and bases its assessment of the company’s value on its share price.

Half of marriages between cousins (Aftenposten)

In an effort to prevent forced marriages, Former Children and Family Affairs Minister Karita Bekkemellem Orheim (Lab) proposed on Monday that cousins should not be allowed to marry. Such a ban would affect a great many people, according to Dr Camilla Stoltenberg. Dr Stoltenberg claims that around half of all Pakistani marriages in Norway are between cousins.

Worth Noting

• The highly educated make more use of the woods and mountains those with little formal education. The class divide is in evidence regardless of whether the pursuit is hiking, skiing or bicycling. (Aftenposten)
• Cow dung is destroying Norwegian cowsheds because it eats away at the concrete floors. The agricultural authorities are concerned for the health and safety of both farmers and cows. If we are to believe Agriculture Minister Lars Sponheim and his people, cow dung represents a ticking gas bomb. (Dagsavisen)
• Crown Prince Haakon could be thrown into a bitter dispute over grazing rights shortly after taking over as the new owner of royal residence Skaugum. King Harald and 111 other landowners lost on all counts in Borgarting Appeal Court in a dispute over grazing rights with sheep farmer Ole Toverud (Verdens Gang)
• A Danish book about Crown Princess Mette-Marit claims that her father "often looks a bit too deeply into the bottom of the bottle". We can also learn that "she had loads of boyfriends, most of which were criminals and drug addicts. One of them accidentally ended up the father of her little boy". (Dagbladet)
• On the Norwegian Snowboarding Association’s official website you can read about sex, horse doping and Daniel Franck’s underpants. "Perhaps, perhaps not," replies Espen Arvesen in answer to questions about whether snowboarding has anything at all to do with the Winter Olympics.

Today’s comment from Verdens Gang

Following the murder of Kurdish-Swedish Fadime, the politicians are falling over themselves to demonstrate ‘zero tolerance’ for attitudes which justify such a crime. The way the public debate is going Carl I. Hagen and the Progress Party’s immigration policy will soon start to look positively liberal. The politicians’ role in this debate is difficult, but not because they are constantly afraid of being lumped together with political extremists. It should be a relatively simple matter for an elected member of parliament to differentiate between anti-immigrant invective and a legitimate desire for improved integration. The problem arises when politicians make demands without following up with specific measures and practical politics. If minimum standards for proficiency in Norwegian are to be demanded, money must be made available to pay for language tuition. Organizations and institutions which work with immigrant communities must be given support, not just fine speeches. The role which schools, the social security system, and the health service can play must be looked into, and changes in the regulations must be evaluated to make it easier to intervene when abuse is uncovered. And action plans must not be left to gather dust in a drawer as soon as the issue disappears from the front pages. It is a good thing that the politicians publicly declare their positions in television debates and by taking part in demonstrations, but tough words turn into hot air if they are not followed up in practice. Crimes and abuse should be given ‘zero tolerance’, not immigrants as a group. If we cannot manage to see the difference, better integration will remain just a far-off dream.