As the controversy around the party's posters on the Oslo Metro has blown up over the past few days, I translated three articles from various news sources about the developing situation yesterday:

• NRK: Norwegian government committee will investigate financing of Peace & Justice Party ad campaign
• ABC Nyheter: Peace & Justice Party's website is down
• Aftenposten: Peace & Justice Party ending controversial ad campaign early; Oslo Tram Workers' Union distances itself from the campaign

Now, NRK reports, along with the host of Debatten Fredrik Solvang on his own Instagram account, that Peace & Justice will disclose the ever-mysterious source of their funding, for their strikingly large campaign for such a small party, on Debatten on NRK1 @ 9:15 PM CET. The party will further be explaining their stances on the War in Ukraine and Norway's role in it as part of the program.

I'm not going to translate Solvang's reel or the attached video in the NRK article, because there's a lot of "Russian propaganda????? Foreign influence????? Just look at the Romanian election!!!!!" type talk that just gives me a fucking migraine; but at the end of the day, by hosting Peace & Justice, NRK/Debatten is taking the oh-so-"edgy" narrative of "OK, but what if — get this — people can be opposed to sending weapons to Ukraine without being Russian assets?", which to me seems like it might be kind of a big deal?

We won't know how this will go until the show runs — whether tonight's episode of Debatten will be a part of a transition in Norwegian bourgeois media to favor withdrawing support for Ukraine, or whether having Peace & Justice on Debatten is really just a formality to again try to grab a hold of the narrative and push it back towards the status quo.

We also won't know how Peace & Justice itself will handle this opportunity, but in any case the Oslo Metro posters controversy reminds me of a previous "scandal" I've translated for the news comm, namely the Red Youth fake parking tickets controversy about three months ago. Like the ongoing Peace & Justice posters controversy, the Red Youth controversy three months ago involved that organization doing something potentially illegal, and keeping their lips sealed about it until they could reveal their big idea on Debatten.

Pretty much from the moment the Peace & Justice posters scandal broke out, I was thinking this may have been their strategy, going on Debatten to reveal the information they've been so conspicuously keeping secret for the past few days.

And yeah, if my sleep-deprived Swiss cheese brain could figure out that this was the party's endgame almost immediately, then surely actual news organizations would've realized it as well, right? Now average Joes filming themselves vandalizing the ads and posting their acts on social media, thereby giving the ads way more exposure than they would've had otherwise — that doesn't necessarily warrant much thought, I don't think, 'cause that's just standard viral marketing based on the premise that average people are not always the brightest and will do anything for likes. But actual news organizations? They have agendas and short and long term interests to balance, right?

With regard to those average Joes, though, I'm wondering if that's why the party originally planned for the campaign to last as long as a week, because they didn't have confidence that their virality would be so huge and immediate.

It is very amusing in any case that so many people keep thinking that the party is basically vandalizing and DDoSing itself for attention — no, I really just think they just know how to use what they have to their advantage. People I guess can't stand to think that the party is winning because it's so despised.

My own thoughts on Peace & Justice is that they seem like yahoos, I appreciate that they're critical of Norway's support for Ukraine but I don't really like how they're pitching this idea to the people of Norway as a matter of "look how we could spend the money we save on Ukraine on ourselves" — that to me seems like a bit of a selfish and "miserly" framing of it. But I guess things will go as they go and I don't have much power to change it. Shôganai.

Because this is a developing situation and the article keeps changing and I've already translated two articles about Peace & Justice today, I didn't feel like translating this Aftenposten article in full... Though I guess my summary of the article is arguably complete enough that it counts as a translation "of sorts"...? I dunno.

The gist of it is that the Peace & Justice Party's posters on the Oslo Metro, which say that the money Norway spends on Ukraine should instead be spent on welfare, keep getting vandalized, and the party has thus decided to end its contract. The official statement from the party, via party leader Marielle Leraand's Facebook account:

Press statement from Peace & Justice (FOR): End of advertising contract in Oslo's public transit network

Oslo, May 19th, 2025

The Peace & Justice Party has resolved to terminate the contract for advertising posters in Oslo's public transit. The cause is that Sporveien [who operate the Oslo Metro] has not been able to uphold the contract due to systematic, politically-motivated vandalism of our posters. The vandalism comes from actors who support NATO's proxy war in Ukraine, and reveals a disturbing intolerance for freedom of speech and democratic debate.

Historically, the foundational idea of fascism was a blind support for national participation in war, where resistance to democracy was justified with the desire for political unity in war time. The aggressive response to our pacifist campaign shows how easily offended and nervously aggressive the cross-party consensus on war financing is. Our posters, which challenge Norway's role in the conflict, have clearly struck a nerve, and the vandalism shows a democratic deficit when people try to silence critical voices.

The Peace & Justice Party will now spend the resources we are saving on the advertising contract on furthering our pacifist message in other arenas. This will be a test of the strength of Norwegian democracy: Will we be able to express ourselves freely, or will the attempts to silence us continue? We would like everybody who values freedom of speech and open debate about Norwegian foreign policy to support our work.

JC Decaux Norway, who are responsible for the ads on the Oslo Metro, do not believe that the vandalism campaign constitutes a breach of contract on Sporveien's part. CEO Gisle Holst Roness explains that the contract would have JC Decaux install new posters, but Peace & Justice would have to pay for the replacements; the party apparently paid for half of the posters in advance, and by canceling now they won't have to pay the other half. Roness does not wish to comment on whether the party's cancellation of the campaign may be connected to the mounting costs of having to constantly replace the posters.

Sporveien's communications manager Gina Scholz states that the vandalized posters have been noted, and that the company is considering whether to report the vandalism to the police. She urges passengers to have respect for the party's campaign even if they don't agree with its message. At the same time, the Oslo Tram Workers' Union (Oslo Sporveiers Arbeiderforening), which represents Sporveien's employees, has distanced itself from the ad with a declaration that reads,

OSA distances itself from divisive political ad

The Oslo Tram Workers' Union (OSA) has previously advised Sporveien not to accept political ads which run contrary to the values of the labor movement for display in public transit. These sorts of messages trash the city's image, not just visually, but politically and socially as well. Our members and passengers should not be caused distress by the ads they see on public transit.

Our country's parliament has granted money to Ukraine with broad consensus. The support is not for the purpose of fanning the flames of war but for the purpose of defense against an aggressor, and contributing to national reconstruction and democracy.

We are proud members of the Organization for Norwegian-Ukrainian Solidarity in the Labor Movement (Stiftelsen Fаglig Solidaritet Norge-Ukraina) and we stand with the Ukrainian people and their labor movement.

We believe that the phrasing of these sorts of ads now circulating are populist, divisive and indefensible. They undermine important values like international solidarity, and the fight for peace and democracy. The OSA has always had a clear line: we do not support hateful rhetoric or campaigns that pit groups of people against each other.

We support solidarity in Norway and internationally.

The article then continues with some quotes from Oslo's governing mayor, Eirik Lae Solberg (Conservative), saying that although he strongly disagrees with the campaign, and is "concerned" about Peace & Justice's refusal to disclose how they paid for the campaign, and is accordingly glad that the party is now under investigation from the government; that he does not think it's right for the Oslo government to ban the ads. A previous version of this article, which unfortunately does not appear to have been archived, included a quote to the effect of "That would be political censorship, which doesn't belong in the liberal society we want to defend"; this quote is however still included in Nettavisen's article, which also quotes Solberg as saying, "Democratic parties must tolerate being looked into, especially when their message is so strong and controversial."

The Aftenposten article concludes with some quotes from an associate professor at the Department of Public and International Law at the University of Oslo, Anine Kierulf, who has "expertise" in freedom of speech, basically just confirming that Peace & Justice's ads are within the bounds of free speech, and that the idea of banning expression of opposition to Norway's support for Ukraine has up to this point never been a point of discussion ("aktuelt", lit. "relevant")

The campaign posters of the Peace & Justice Party (Fred og rettferdighet, FOR) on the Oslo Metro have garnered a lot of attention the past few days. On Monday, May 19th, the party's website experienced downtime, the news publication Dagen reports.

The party itself states that the downtime is due to a cyberattack.

"Peace & Justice's website is currently being attacked. We apologize if our website has bad functionality," a message on the website reads.

The Peace & Justice Party created much ado over the weekend as campaign posters appeared on the Oslo Metro. The party is campaigning in fall's parliamentary election, and believes that the 85 billion NOK that the {Storting|parliament} plans to use on support for Ukraine, should instead be spent on welfare in Norway.

The campaign may have costed 1.4 million NOK, but the party has only registered 50,000 NOK in campaign donations, according to VG. The party has thus far refused to say who has financed the campaign.

Several politicians are questioning the financing of the controversial ad campaign, though the party maintains it has nothing to hide.

The PLN (Partilovnemnda / Party Law Committee) is the government organ responsible for ensuring that political parties in Norway follow the laws and regulations of party financing. Donations to political parties are to be registered to the Norwegian government for documentation.

The Peace & Justice Party (Fred og rettferdighet, abbrev. FOR) has one documented donation: 50,000 kroner. [c. 4,850 USD]

—"It's understandable that people would question if it's really possible to finance the Peace & Justice Party's total carpeting of the Oslo Metro on such a budget," PLN leader Ragna Aarli says.

The PLN is now set to investigate the case of the red Peace & Justice posters which have covered Oslo Metro cars since May 17th, and since Monday the 19th also been sighted at Oslo Central Station.

The controversial posters will remain on display until Friday the 23rd, according to Sporveien, the operators of the Oslo Metro. The Peace & Justice Party reports to VG that the campaign involves a total of 8,600 posters.

"We have nothing to hide"

The Peace & Justice Party was founded in 2023. It is opposed to NATO and believes that Norway should not contribute to the War in Ukraine.

"No to 85 billion kroner to war in Ukraine!" one of the posters on the Oslo Metro says; "Spend our money on welfare, not war!" says the other.

Party leader Marielle Leraand is depicted on several posters.

—"We have no problem with being investigated. It's good that they're investigating, and we have nothing to hide," she says to NRK.

She does not want to say who has paid for the ad campaign but emphasizes that Peace & Justice follows Norwegian law. The party also does not want to say how much the campaign cost.

—"Is the money from Norwegian donors?"

—"I will not answer that question now," says Leraand.

—"So you will not deny that the money might come from, say, the Russian government or people from Russia?"

—"I will not answer that type of question," says Leraand.

Leraand was previously the Red Party's second in command, but resigned in 2023 to protest the party's decision to support sending weapons to Ukraine.

1.4 million

—"The ad campaign is approved in accordance with the current guidelines," says Sporveien's press contact Tone S. Tuhus to NRK.

JCDecaux is responsible for the ads on the Oslo Metro. The agency's list of prices indicates that a similar campaign would cost >1.4 million kroner [c. 136K USD] for one week, not including potential discounts.

JCDecaux on Sunday did not wish to say how much Peace & Justice had paid.

—"That is obviously confidential," JCDecaux Norway's CEO Gisle Holst Roness wrote in a text message.

Sporveien confirms that a discount was negotiated for Peace & Justice.

—"But the final price is confidential," the company writes to NRK.

Duty to inform

Party financing is regulated by Norwegian law: all political parties have a duty to inform who they have received donations from. All donations over 10,000 kroner must be identified.

—"Anonymous donations or donations from abroad are strictly banned," PLN leader Ragna Aarli says.

Party financing

• All political parties must register all donations over 10,000 kroner in an election year
• This also applies to routine donations, such as the Red Party's "party tax"
• Money, goods and services, loans and discounts, and free or underpriced provisions must be registered
• Including loans on non-commercial terms

Source: partifinansiering.no

—"The PLN has received a number of inquiries about the Peace & Justice situation. We must investigate where the donation came from and whether it was legal," Aarli says.

—"How will you do this?"

—"First of all we have to contact Peace & Justice themselves. They don't want to disclose to the media how they've financed their campaign, but that doesn't mean that they won't open up to us in the PLN about it. So that's where we'll have to begin," Aarli says.

"It's a matter of faith"

Aarli says that the PLN also has the ability to look more closely at Peace & Justice's accounts, through the help of, among other things, the PRU (Partirevisjonsutvalget / Party Audit Committee); and says that openness about party finances is important as a general principle for our country.

—"What sort of significance does this have in an election year?"

—"It's a matter of faith in the democratic process, and that the election isn't stolen by foreign actors. We are a small country vulnerable to campaigns of foreign influence. Not that I'm going to assert that the Peace & Justice situation is an example of that," Aarli says.

The PLN is scheduled to meet in approximately one week, on May 27th.

—"Will the Peace & Justice situation be discussed in the coming meeting?"

—"Yes, it will. We have received so many inquiries even from private persons about the case that we must discuss it and how we will handle the situation going forward, to determine whether Peace & Justice is following regulations," Aarli says.

I discovered this channel the other day, a bit libby at times but also very good when the topic isn't political

It's Falfa and Shalsha's birthday today, truly an occasion worth celebrating

Incidentally the next episode of Slime 300 season 2 is releasing today pog, I haven't been watching it though

https://anilist.co/anime/112608/Ive-Been-Killing-Slimes-for-300-Years-and-Maxed-Out-My-Level/

https://anilist.co/anime/143337/Ive-Been-Killing-Slimes-For-300-Years-And-Maxed-Out-My-Level-Season-2/

[immediate casual ableism and transphobia]

"Hmm,"

Join us on Blorptube!

blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

※ Remember to use a VPN!

---

And at long last we reach the end of season 2 of 9, and with it the third of the 15 two-parters. I have to say I'm looking forward to season 3, and especially the little special we have planned for the end of that season... But in any case!

What's the chef cookin' tonight?

• "Dragon Quest" is an episode that actually addresses Spike's background and relationship to his species, which is something many of you have been wondering about. It won't be the last episode to do so, either, and the characters introduced in this episode will be seen again!
• "Hurricane Fluttershy" is an episode in which Fluttershy and other pegasi have to make a waterspout. More interestingly, I believe this is the episode that introduces the recurring character Bulk Biceps.
• "Ponyville Confidential" concerns the Ponyville Schoolhouse's own newspaper, as the Cutie Mark Crusaders find themselves yellow journalists under the leadership of Diamond Tiara of all ponies! Or really it's only Apple Bloom that's the yellow journalist, Scootaloo is an orange journalist and Sweetie Belle is an... Off-white journalist, I guess?
• "MMMystery on the Friendship Express" is another long episode title, and the episode itself really puts the "yoke" in Hyouka... Which I suppose is a pun that only works when spoken, but the point is in any case that Pinkie Pie says "{KININARIMASU!|I just have to know!}" and puts on her Sherclop cap to solve the, well, mmmystery, of who ate some cake without permission.
• "A Canterlot Wedding" was created to capitalize on the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, and introduces several new recurring characters including a recurring villain. I referred to this villain's dastardly scheme as "pony 9/11" in the chat once, which is maybe a bit facetious, but whether you agree with that label or not I'll leave up to you!

Content warnings

• Bullying ("Dragon Quest", "Hurricane Fluttershy")
• Animal abuse ("Dragon Quest")
• Depiction of social anxiety ("Hurricane Fluttershy")
• Disclosure of compromising or private information ("Ponyville Confidential")
• Blackmail by an employer-like figure ("Ponyville Confidential")
• Impersonation ("A Canterlot Wedding")
• Kidnapping and leaving for dead ("A Canterlot Wedding")
• Claustrophobia ("A Canterlot Wedding")
• Mind control ("A Canterlot Wedding")

If there's anything you'd like to add to or change about this list, please tell me!

---

♫ Uniting nations at the speeeed of liiiiight ♫
[epic sax solo]
♫ Station of the '20s — TV☆3SIS! ♫

He really put the {وَطَن|waṭan} in Watanabe

I figure it's probably fine but I want to double check and I can't find anybody else who's asked this question.

※I have taken a handful of liberties in this translation, so you may wish to compare with a machine translation.

[Article begins with a photo captioned "GETTING EXTRA SUPPORT: Billionaire Katharina K. Andresen and Oslo Pride leader Dan Bjørke hoisting the rainbow flag in the former's garden on the Bygdøy peninsula, May 29 [last year, or?]. Photo by Helge Mikalsen / VG." — I'd like to note that Bygdøy is home to the most expensive properties in all of Norway, but are you really all that surprised that a billionaire would be living in an expensive-ass house surrounded by other richies?]

[There's also a bullet point summary of the article, but I'm not translating it.]

The Christian Democratic Party's new policy of banning public schools from hoisting rainbow flags has made yet another billionaire see red. Together with Oslo Pride, {they|singular}^[Every time I use a singular they in this translation, keep in mind that the "vibes" are maybe closer to xe, just without the implication that the referent is nonbinary. The word in Norwegian is hen.] are now offering free rainbow flags to schools across the country.

—"An important founding philosophy of our company is that everybody has a right to be who they are, and that diversity enriches us. The pride flag represents this, it's a symbol of freedom," the anonymous billionaire says.

VG knows the identity of the billionaire in question. {They|singular} do not want attention around their person.

The business owner made their decision after reading the VG article about the billionaires Katharina Andresen (age 30) and Isabelle Ringnes (36), who have already donated free flags to 150 primary and secondary schools^[Primary school is barneskole, "children's school"; lower secondary school is ungdomsskole, "youth's school"; upper secondary school is videregående skole, "further-going school". The former two are mandatory and the last is not.] in partnership with Oslo Pride.

Oslo Pride's online store ran out of the free flags in under 24 hours. The organization has since then had schools who were too late to join the waiting list.

[There's two portraits of Andresen and Ringnes, with arrows and their names with captions. The captions explain that the former is a billionaire heiress and owner of the holding company Ferd, and that the latter is an "entrepreneur"^[Incidentally, the word in Norwegian is gründer, one of very few Norwegian words to use an umlaut, since it's a loan from German. The Norwegian word for "entrepreneur" being a German loan is perhaps unsurprising since so much of the Norwegian bourgeoisie can trace its heritage to Germany, including the Andresens.] and also a billionaire heiress. Color me Absolutely Fucking Shocked that they inherited their wealth, though I should clarify that Andresen is co-owner of Ferd along with her sister and dad.]

The anonymous billionaire now flipping the bill is not related to either Andresen or Ringnes.

—"We applaud Katharina and Isabell's initiative, but think that all schools that wish to fly the rainbow flag for Pride 2025 should be able to do so without being financially burdened by it," the anonymous donor says about their decision.

The rainbow flags now being offered to every primary and secondary school in Norway are in "flagpole size"^[The recommended size of a flag is proportional to the height of its flagpole, so I'm just assuming they mean "too big to be easily carried in your hands unless you're into yosakoi or something".] and normally cost 1,100 NOK [~106 USD].

"We're buying for everybody!"

Oslo Pride's leader of daily operations Dan Bjørke is thankful for the new billionaire who contacted via {their|singular}^[In this case the word was sine, a reflexive possessive pronoun, so forget the previous footnote about hen.] employees.

—"It gives me a great feeling!" Bjørke exclaimed with joy in a phone call with VG on Friday, May 9.

—"We received an inquiry a few days ago with some words of praise for what Katharina and Isabelle have done, and the inquiry continued, 'But there are some 2,700 schools across Norway. We're buying for everybody!'"

—"What do you say to those who are critical of billionaire donors and maybe see this as an attempt to influence politics?"

—"It's still up to the schools whether they want to fly the flag or not, and this billionaire is making things a little easier for those who do want to fly the flag, and I think that's a great thing!"

[Caption: "APPEAL: Oslo Pride's leader of daily operations Dan Bjørke recommends schools who want free rainbow flags to register early. 'If we are to get flags to all the schools by June, they must be quick.' Photo by Helge Mikalsen / VG"]

Bjørke believes that those who tie the rainbow flag to political positions have misunderstood it.

—"This flag represents an intention. It's about the type of society we want to see, how we want to treat each other, a wish for a society where people can be themselves in their entirety," the Oslo Pride leader said.

—"In these uncertain times, it's more important than ever that we hoist the flag all the way to the top of the flagpole, so that we can be clear about what type of society we want to be. And we're making it easier for schools to do exactly this."

—"What sort of impact do you think this might have?"

—"I hope we'll see rainbow flags everywhere in June. That the flag is hoisted even higher, and we're even clearer about what sort of society we're supposed to be."

[There's a list of phone numbers and websites for people who need to talk to someone about mental health etc]

"Jumped at it"

During the national congress of the Christian Democratic Party, the party adopted a policy position suggested by its youth wing, to restrict public schools to only being allowed to fly the Norwegian, Sámi and Kven flags.

• This means banning the rainbow flag among others in practice^[Footnote from the article: It was previously only legal to hoist the Norwegian and Sámi flags from flagpoles outside public buildings until 2021, when the Flag Law was changed to allow for flags for "arrangements, commemorations or celebrations of interest to the general public".].
• The policy has created strong political reactions even within the party.
• The leader of the Association for Forest Finns has pointed out that the suggestion only includes one of Norway's five national minorities, these being the Forest Finns, Kvens, Jews, and two different Romani subgroups^[Norway also has Sámi people as an Indigenous group, which is not the same as a national minority.].

The Christian Democratic Party's leader, Dag Inge Ulstein, has defended the policy in a previous interview with VG. This confounds Malene Fimland, the class teacher^[Kontaktlærer, lit. "contact teacher": a teacher who regularly meets with the student and their guardians.] at Myking school in Alver municipality. The rural school with no more than 63 students has for the past three years commemorated Pride with a rainbow flag owned by its principal, Kristine Glatved-Prahl Lunde.

—"When I saw we could get a free flag, I jumped at the opportunity and ordered one wiithout checking with the principal first," Fimland explained with a laugh in a phone interview with VG.

—"But I already knew I had her support. We're a tiny rural school, and Alver has not been accepting of everybody and everything."

Fimland believes that this is why it's important to fly the rainbow flag especially in the Norwegian countryside. Myking school has previously only flown the flag for a day or two, but this year the student council resolved that the primary school should fly the rainbow flag for all of Pride month in June.

—"Everybody should feel welcome here."

"Not hidden away"

Fimland doesn't buy the argument that it's enough to just fly the Norwegian, Sámi and Kven flags.

—"We celebrate diversity when we fly the rainbow flag. We're not sitting all hidden away," she emphasizes.

—"Teachers shaping young minds must accept students at their school regardless of who they fall in love with or who they identify as. It's important to signal to the outside world that all types of people have a place here."

Christian Democratic Party leader Dag Inge Ulstein's views are to be found further down in this article.

"It scares people"

Oslo Pride's leader Dan Bjørke doesn't think anything of the Christian Democrats' rhetoric, either.

—"It's some nonsense when Dag Inge Ulstein says that he has so much empathy for us queers and does so much to ensure that we can live well. Why's he going through all this effort to turn the flag into something political when it isn't, then?" Bjørke says, and adds,

—"What's especially bad about this whole affair is that when the Christian Democrats adopt these sorts of policies, it legitimizes those who bully queer people at school. It scares people!"

[Captions: (Photo 1) "ALREADY A FLAG DONOR: 'Removing the flag from public spaces is not neutrality, it's an absence of recognition,' Katharina Andresen said to VG from her home on Bygdøy. She is seen here hoisting the rainbow flag with Oslo Pride leader Dan Bjørke. Photo by Helge Mikalsen / VG" (Photo 2) "SUPPORTS QUEER PEOPLE: Billionaire Katharina Andresen and Oslo Pride leader Dan Bjørke stand together in the fight for LGBTQ+-rights. Photo by Helge Mikalsen / VG"]

Bjørke believes that the facts of history paint a different picture of the Christian Democratic Party than its leader's words do.

—"The party voted against legalizing homosexuality in 1972. They were against laws for civil unions and same-sex marriage. In 2014 they voted against discrimination protections for gender identity and expression," Bjørke says, and adds,

—"They also voted against abolishing surgical requirements for changing legal gender back in 2016, and now they're trying to ban Pride flags from schools."

Bjørke comes with the following message:

—"We can't let the Christian Democrats take this flag from us. That's what they're trying to do: they're trying to turn it into something it isn't, and we won't let them get away with it."

[Poll: "How do you feel about this anonymous billionaire ensuring that every school in Norway can get a rainbow flag?" (A.) It's awesome. Hooray for diversity! (B.) Billionaires shouldn't get involved in this. (C.) The schools can fly the rainbow flag if they want to, but they should pay out of their own pocket for it. (D.) Isn't the national flag enough? (E.) I have no opinion about this.]

"Disproportionate," says Christian Democratic Party leader

The Christian Democratic Party's leader Dag Inge Ulstein has read the critiques of his party's actions, and in an e-mail to VG via the party's press officer, does not mince words about his disagreement.

—"When Oslo Pride's leader makes these conclusions about my views based on things that happened before I was even born, certainly before I became politically involved, then that's unreasonable in its own way," Ulstein says.

—"The pride flag means many good things to many people, and that's all good, but we have to understand that certain people — without any hate or prejudice — do not feel at home under that flag. Oslo Pride's leader cannot decide how people are going to perceive a flag that surrounds them."

Ulstein further points out that the {Storting|Parliament} has chosen not to fly the rainbow flag "due to its political connotations".

—"Surveys show that a significant share of Norway's population agree with the Christian Democrats' stances on the rainbow flag. Does that mean that these people are against love, diversity or queer rights? No, of course not!" the party leader says.

[Caption: "ALREADY FLYING: The rainbow flag of the billionaire heiress Katharina Andresen at her beach property on Bygdøy. Photo by Helge Mikalsen / VG"]

—"How do you feel about this new billionaire entering the rainbow flag debate, offering free flags to every school in the whole country?"

—"I like the enthusiasm, but I think this type of activism is disproportionate. The Christian Democratic Party's policy accords with our country's former flag policy, which enjoyed consensus across more or less all political parties until 2021."

Ulstein holds firmly his own belief regarding which flag belongs in schoolyards.

—"Really, what is more inclusive than the Norwegian flag? It stands for democracy, freedom, and the rule of law; it stands for unity, tolerance, and liberal values such as the right to love whoever one wants," he concludes.___

blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine

Note that you apparently need a Hexbear account to use Blorptube now.

In any case, this is our penultimate watch party for this show. For our final watch party next week I'm probably gonna start half an hour early, since we'll be watching one more episode than usual. Then the week after that, or two weeks from now, we'll finally start the 1982 sequel series Once Upon a Time... Space — the only non-edutainment show in Barillé's Once Upon a Time... canon, and also one of only two shows in the canon to be included in anime databases due to being a Japanese co-production (the other being 1987's Once Upon a Time... Life)

In any case...

Episode titles: "Elizabethan England" — "The Golden Age of the Low Countries" — "The Great Reign of Louis XIV" — "Peter the Great and His Times" — "The Age of Reason"

Content warnings: Death incl. murder — sexual assault — nudity — animal gore — disease — racist caricatures — religion presented as fact — Eurocentrism

NOTE: Do not treat a nearly 50 year old cartoon as a definitive source on world history! This show was inaccurate even when it was made! We are watching this show to be critical of our nostalgia, understanding it as a product of a particular historical and material context, and understanding that it reproduces harmful narratives about history.