Christopher Marlowe, The Jew of Malta, 1633 / Updated to Oslo 2010
We learned here and here about the multicultural chaos in Oslo, which used to be a livable place, but is now the most dangerous city in Norway. So what is a family to do if they want to raise their children in peace, but still be close enough to the city for work?
Sørum kommune. This is where the old Norway still exists. And the commute? Just 30 minutes for the trip from SØRUMSAND - OSLO S.
Sørumsand is the principal city in this kommune, and is located right on the south bank of the Glomma river, Norway's longest, which flows down from Hamar and Mjøsan.
In summer, the rocks on the north bank are exceedingly popular for evening drinking, and the small beaches (as shown at right) are excellent for swimming.
NOT JUST BEAUTIFUL NATURE
The kommune has very progressive leadership, and so participates in the kvalitetskommuneprogrammet (Ruth Lothe, Ingvill Tandstad, Ingen ansatte i Sørum kommune får lenger røyke noe sted, verken ute eller inne, når de er på jobb, NRK, 4 Jan 2010) - that's the kommune quality program.
EASY WAY TO BETTER HEALTH
Maybe there was some really simple way to do this? The committee conferred, and decided to forbid smoking during working hours. This way the approximately 1000 workers in the kommune could be healthier. After all, more than 90 percent of lung cancer cases are caused by tobacco use. Obviously, the more a person smokes, the more risk he has. (Årsager til lungekræft, Kræftens Bekæmpelse)
STUDIES AGREE
Even passive smoking is dangerous. A non-smoker who lives together with a smoker has a 20 percent increase in his cancer risk. (Årsager til lungekræft, Kræftens Bekæmpelse)
While tobacco use is often associated with causing lung cancer, it also impacts the skin.
Dr Jan Bavinck, from the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, studied 580 skin cancer cases. He found that cigarette smokers have a 3.3 times greater risk of developing "squamous cell carcinoma, with a definite link between the number of cigarettes smoked daily and the chances of developing the disease."
Dr Bavinck said: "Everybody realises that sun exposure is a risk for skin cancer, but almost no-one knows that smoking is also an important, and independent, risk factor.
"Smoking is now associated with an increasing number of cancers beyond lung cancer, such as
bladder, head and neck, cervical and skin cancers." (Smoking 'triples skin cancer risk', BBC, Dec 29, 2000)Its not just lung cancer. Or even skin cancer. Its poison that hurts the entire body. Cigarette use causes 30 percent of all cancers in Canada. (Tobacco Control, Cancer Care Nova Scotia, http://www.cancercare.ns.ca/inside.asp?cmPageID=103)
So smoking is really bad. Sørum kommune wants to help the people. And what do the Jews have to say?
Let's check with NRK: "Men langt fra alle synes at DET er en god regel. En spørrerunde i Sørum sentrum avstedkom følgende kraftsalver:
"THIS IS CRAZY"
– Det er tåpelig!
– Jeg synes det litt sånn nazistil, jeg da, selv om jeg kan forstå at man ikke trenger å røyke inne. Dette handler litt for mye om å styre over andres liv." But many people thought this was a bad rule. A survey in Sørum center yielded these observations:A STUPID IDEA
That's really bad, and,
NAZI STYLE
I think that is a little bit Nazi style, even though I understand that its not necessary to smoke indoors. It seems to me like they are exercising too much
CONTROL OVER THE LIVES OF OTHERS
control over the lives of others. (Ruth Lothe, Ingvill Tandstad, Ingen ansatte i Sørum kommune får lenger røyke noe sted, verken ute eller inne, når de er på jobb, NRK, 4 Jan 2010)
THE DAY THE SLAVE TRADERS MADE A COUNTRY OUTING FROM THEIR HQ IN OSLO
Sørum sentrum consists of a few small shops. Across the road from the train station. And these two reporters went around, asked for opinions, and heard that it was CRAZY to try to save lives and help workers be healthy.
So who thinks its crazy when those slaves could get set free? Not the Norwegian Ingvild Syversten, who is cited in the article by name. No, its a different type of Norwegian. A Norwegian who can't be cited by name. No picture, either, please!"NEW" NORWEGIANS
The sort of Norwegians who started out in the tobacco business when they first came to Norway. (Oskar Mendelsohn, Jødenes historie i Norge gjennom 300 år, Bind I, Universitetsforlaget, 1969, p 14)
Of course, this sort of "Norwegians" did not neglect their other traditional lines of business. Things like jewelry. Back in 1681, the Jewellers Israel David and Samson Epherim got permission to go to Norway on business. (Oskar Mendelsohn, Jødenes historie i Norge gjennom 300 år, Bind I, Universitetsforlaget, 1969, p 14) These were people who just couldn't pass up a profit: In 1666, the Jews Jeremias Fuerst, Nathan Elias, and Jacob Sossmann were arrested for trafficking in gold and silver mined out of Norway. (Oskar Mendelsohn, Jødenes historie i
Norge gjennom 300 år, Bind I, Universitetsforlaget, 1969, p 20) In Bergen, the 1710 police regulations mentioned Jews who traveled around and cheated people. (Oskar Mendelsohn, Jødenes historie i Norge gjennom 300 år, Bind I, Universitetsforlaget, 1969, p 26) Three Dutch Jews had to be expelled on grounds of their crimes from Tønsberg in 1734. (Oskar Mendelsohn, Jødenes historie i Norge gjennom 300 år, Bind I, Universitetsforlaget, 1969, p 25)Medical science says: Cigarette smoking is really bad. Sørum kommune: We want healthier workers.
And those slave traders? "That's crazy!!"Traders like Barabas. And where can he be found? "BARABAS discovered in his counting-house, with heaps of gold before him." (Christopher Marlowe, The Jew of Malta, Act I, 1633)
"As for those Samnites, and the men of Uz,
That bought my Spanish oils and wines of Greece,
Here have I purs'd their paltry silverlings.
Fie, what a trouble 'tis to count this trash!
Well fare the Arabians, who so richly pay
The things they traffic for with wedge of gold,
Whereof a man may easily in a day
Tell that which may maintain him all his life.
The needy groom, that never finger'd groat,
Would make a miracle of thus much coin;
But he whose steel-barr'd coffers are cramm'd full,
And all his life-time hath been tired,
Wearying his fingers' ends with telling it," (Christopher Marlowe, The Jew of Malta, Act I, 1633)
Yes, the tobacco executives / slave traders have their problems too. Their coffers are crammed full of silver and gold. (as per Christopher Marlowe, The Jew of Malta, Act I, 1633) And all their lives long they have been wearying the ends of their fingers counting all that gold! (as per Christopher Marlowe, The Jew of Malta, Act I, 1633)
Sure the journalists at NRK try to help these Jews maintain a low profile. But when it comes to tobacco and the slave trade:
"BARABAS. Go tell 'em the Jew of Malta sent thee, man: Tush, who amongst 'em knows not Barabas?" (Christopher Marlowe, The Jew of Malta, Act I, 1633)
Slave trading, the tobacco business, breast cancer bras, skin cancer products? Tush, who amongst 'em knows not Barabas?
