NOWgNOY


NOWgNOY


Quotes·Quotations by NOWgNOY

Life

¶ Life is more beautiful than you thought... if you do not give up.

Norway


Norway

Norway i/ˈnɔrweɪ/ (Norwegian: Norge (Bokmål) or Noreg (Nynorsk)), officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres (148,747 sq mi) and a population of about 4.99 million. It is the second least densely populated country in Europe. The majority of the country shares a border to the east with Sweden; its northernmost region is bordered by Finland to the south and Russia to the east; in its south Norway borders the Skagerrak Strait across from Denmark. The capital city of Norway is Oslo. Norway's extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea, is home to its famous fjords.

Two centuries of Viking raids tapered off following the adoption of Christianity by King Olav Tryggvason in 994. A period of civil war ended in the 13th century when Norway expanded its control overseas to parts of the British Isles, Iceland, and Greenland. Norwegian territorial power peaked in 1265, but competition from the Hanseatic League and the spread of the Black Death weakened the country. In 1380, Norway was absorbed into a union with Denmark that lasted more than four centuries. In 1814, Norwegians resisted the cession of their country to Sweden and adopted a new constitution. Sweden then invaded Norway but agreed to let Norway keep its constitution in return for accepting the union under a Swedish king. Rising nationalism throughout the 19th century led to a 1905 referendum granting Norway independence. Although Norway remained neutral in World War I, it suffered heavy losses to its shipping. Norway proclaimed its neutrality at the outset of World War II, but was nonetheless occupied for five years by the Third Reich. In 1949, neutrality was abandoned and Norway became a founding member of NATO. Discovery of oil and gas in adjacent waters in the late 1960s boosted Norway's economic fortunes. In referenda held in 1972 and 1994, Norway rejected joining the EU. Key domestic issues include immigration and integration of ethnic minorities, maintaining the country's extensive social safety net with an aging population, and preserving economic competitiveness.

Norway is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, with King Harald V as its head of state and Jens Stoltenberg as its prime minister. It is a unitary state with administrative subdivisions on two levels known as counties (fylke) and municipalities (kommuner). The Sámi people have a certain amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament and the Finnmark Act. Although having rejected European Union membership in two referenda, Norway maintains close ties with the union and its member countries, as well as with the United States. Norway remains one of the biggest financial contributors to the United Nations, and participates with UN forces in international missions, notably in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Sudan and Libya. Norway is a founding member of the United Nations, NATO, the Council of Europe, and the Nordic Council; a member of the European Economic Area, the WTO, and the OECD; and is also a part of Schengen Area.

Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, fresh water, and hydropower. On a per-capita basis, it is the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas outside the Middle East, and the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the country's gross domestic product. The country maintains a Nordic welfare model with universal health care, subsidized higher education, and a comprehensive social security system. From 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 through 2011, Norway has had the highest human development index ranking in the world.



Norwegian Proverbs

Food·Dieting

¶ Cookies are made of butter and love.

Hero

¶ Heroism consists in hanging on one minute longer.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway

Northern Ndebele people


Northern Ndebele people

The northern Ndebele (Northern Ndebele: amaNdebele) are a nation and ethnic group in Southern Africa, who share a common Ndebele culture and Ndebele language. Their history began when a Zulu chiefdom split from King Shaka in the early 19th century under the leadership of Mzilikazi, a former chief in his kingdom and ally. Under his command the disgruntled Zulus went on to conquer and rule the chiefdoms of the Southern Ndebele. This was where the name and identity of the eventual kingdom was adopted.

During a turbulent period in Nguni and Sesotho-Tswana history known as the Mfecane, Mzilikazi regiment, initially numbering 500 soldiers, moved west towards the present-day city of Pretoria, where they founded a settlement called Mhlahlandlela. They then moved northwards in 1838 into present-day Zimbabwe where they overwhelmed the Rozvi, eventually carving out a home now called Matabeleland and encompassing the west and south-west region of the country. In the course of the migration, large numbers of conquered local clans and individuals were absorbed into the Ndebele nation, adopting the Ndebele language and culture. Historically the assimilated people came from the Southern Ndebele, Swazi, Sotho-Tswana, and amaLozwi/Rozvi ethnic groups.


Northern Ndebele Proverb

Fortune

¶ Amajodo awela abangelambiza.
Translation: Fortune favours the foolish.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ndebele_people

Norman Bates (Psycho, 1960)


Norman Bates from Psycho (1960)

Norman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the central character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the main antagonist of the 1960 film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The character was inspired by murderer and body snatcher Ed Gein.


Quotes·Quotations by Norman Bates

Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates from Psycho (1960)

A boy's best friend is his mother.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Bates
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Perkins

Norio Kuboi


Norio Kuboi

A professor at Momoyama Gakuin University (also known as St. Andrew’s University)


Quotes·Quotations by Norio Kuboi

Dokdo/Takeshima

¶ Dokdo is Korean territory. The Japanese government needs to recognize the fact that it forcefully seized Dokdo, or Takeshima during the Russo-Japanese War between 1904 and 1905.

¶ We confirmed that South Korean residents are living on Takeshima, and that the islets are being guarded. It is clear that South Korea is in a position of being able to claim sovereignty over the islets. [May 24, 2013]

Noah Calhoun/"Duke" from The Notebook (2004)


Noah Calhoun/"Duke" from The Notebook (2004)


Quotes·Quotations by Noah Calhoun/"Duke"

James Garner as Old Noah Calhoun/"Duke" from The Notebook (2004)

¶ They didn't agree on much. In fact, they rarely agreed on anything. They fought all the time, and they challenged each other every day. But despite their differences, they had one important thing in common. They were crazy about each other.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Garner