Norway's economy has, as I've explained, been significantly deregulated since the glorious days of Old Labor. The massive weight of social democracy is today felt more in heavy state ownership, state employment and high taxes than in state monopolies and petty regulations. One petty regulation that has proven hard to kill, though, doubly incomprehensible as it is both archaic and annoying, is opening time restriction for stores. Until very recently, all stores were required to close at 21 on weekdays, 18 on Saturday, and not open at all on Sundays and other religious and public holidays. The weekday and Saturday restriction was lifted last month, (so far without much effect), but holy days remain no-shopping days in Norway. Gas stations, on the other hand, face no restrictions at all. The logic appears to be that gas is an essential, and food isn't.

As it happens, I found myself entirely out of food today. It also so happens that Jesus did something awfully special on this day in history, and the nearby supermarket is closed, (its employees doubtless at church in deep meditation). Now what? Cheese and water for dinner? Not at all! With regular stores being closed all the time, the invisible hand has, in its wisdom, in recent years seen fit to turn gas stations into grocery stores. This practice, too, has been regulated, restricted to gas stations smaller than 100m². (This 100m² gas station is known unofficially as Brustadbua, the Brustad cabin, after the bright politician who thought of the idea, or in any case was blamed for it afterwards.) In effect, I was able to buy food after all today - I just couldn't buy any good food, as they've only got room for essentials, and I had to walk 500m longer to get it.

You don't understand the logic of this? No need to. Understanding is not required, only obedience.

Bjørn — I wonder if the holy day that made it necessary for you to buy dinner at the gas station was Kristi Himmelfartsdag? I think that must be Ascension Day, in English.

What interests me here is the fact that some Christian holy days are apparently still national holidays in Norway. A Norwegian acquaintance sent me email just the other day, in which she said that she had the day off for Kristi Himmelfartsdag and assumed that Americans, as well, would be taking that day off . I was surprised that she had not heard about separation of church and state over here. (Though, of course, we have no problem with references to a generic "God", as in "God bless America". And constantly sprinkle our political speech with sanctimonious references to the deity.) Does Norway still have a state religion as well? Given the influx of non-Christian immigrants to Norway in recent years, I wonder if it isn't just a matter of time before Norway will have to separate church and state. Have there been protests in Norway over the state's close association with Lutheranism?

- Gill

Here in Germany we have 'Himmelfahrt' off as well. It is also considered to be Father's Day, which is celebrated by German men in that they group together to either hike or bike through the countryside while simultaneously consuming large amounts of alcohol. Ah, the rites of spring!

Spring is good for short work weeks... Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day, Ascension, Pentecost Monday. We used to have June 17th (East German workers' uprising of 1953) as well, but that got moved to October 3rd (day of German unity).

If there is one thing that annoyed me when I stayed in Finland, it was the mandatory closing times for various businesses. It continues to be a symbol of nanny-statism for me.

But, then again, I live in the City That Never Sleeps, so I've been spoiled. I spent all of 2000 in San Francisco, and that city annoyed me for its mandatory closing times, especially for public transportation (around 1am). I just didn't understand the logic of letting people drink, and then denying them public transportation after a certain hour.

New York continues to operate its transports 24/7. If I happen to stagger out of a night club at 4am, and I don't want to take the subway (though I have done that), I always know that there will be a line of taxis waiting for me right in front (driven mostly by Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis, and Haitians). Ah, heaven!

And I can just drop by at the 24/7 delis or restaurants for a bite if I feel like it. Bliss!

Contrast that to madness at 2am in Helsinki on a weekend, where there are 50 people lined at designated taxi stands (which can be quite a walk away), waiting for those oh-so-few taxis that are so regulated (the trams having stopped running at 1am).

That's a nice contrast, actually. In New York, taxis line up for you at night. In Helsinki, it's the people that line up for taxis.

So much for social planning. The consumer always loses.

Not all that long ago -- well, twenty years or so -- so-called "blue laws" were still in effect here and in much of the rest of the USA. Actually, I guess they're still on the books but not enforced. Anyway, grocery stores and most other retail establishments were forced to be closed on Sundays. About the only remnant of that -- that I know of -- are bans on the sale of alcohol on Sunday.

In California there is no ban on the sale of alcohol on Sunday. Just after 2:00 a.m. on any night of the week. The only stores that close early do it by their own choice. Christian bookstores often stay closed on Sundays or are open only very briefly that day. (I can't speak for the various 'people's republics' in the Bay Area...)

This, in Norway, sounds like the socialists are just taking advantage of religious holidays to control the free flow of the market rather than religion imposing anything on Norwegians.

And always remember (an aside but I'll just say it anyway): Christians of today in the west are not found in the clerical hierarchies of the denominations and branches. Those ranks have been infiltrated and filled by serpents long ago and they are now the gatekeepers keeping their ranks 'pure' and doing their best to DISRUPT, DISTORT, DISUADE, AND DISPIRIT to keep any chance of the true Christian message from being heard and from growing.

'Dis' = the god of hell.

Markku: ever tried buying wine on Sunday here? They just fixed that, last week.

Blue laws are IMO best understood from the antitrust perspective: government-sponsored restraint of trade to reduce the possibility of nonprice competition. That is, it's in the sellers' collective interest to let this stuff stand...

You ask why Jesus wants food and liquor shops closed on religious holidays? It's obvious. It forces you to pray to Him for manna from heaven, asking Him to turn water into wine.

More importantly for small business owners, however, is that they usually cannot compete with large businesses on opening hours, as there are only so many family members to share the hours in the week. Hiring non-family members to work in the shop is usually impractical, as they tend to complicate the tax evasion process and steal from the till.

you ni gg ger fu c ker demon dog sniffin jesus A SS!

killjesus and killyou F U C KE RS!!!!!

Smile and don't complain you ni gg er demon dogs!

clem snide:

don't drink wine and shut up ni g ger fu cker demon dog sniffin jesus A SS!

it means you starve, clem snide, and I GET THE FOOD AND WINE AND CHEESE!!!!!

smile and don't complain n i gger demon dog fu ckers!

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