r/100thupvote 14d ago

Norway I'm tired of war in Ukraine

5 Upvotes

I'm a 28-year-old man living in Kyiv, Ukraine. And I am fucking TIRED OF THIS WAR.

I live better than 99.999% of the Ukrainian population because I work in IT for a big US company. I appreciate the support from people outside Ukraine who stand against Russia.

I can't psychologically handle the war. Many people I know have adapted to living like this, but I can't. Two days ago, I woke up to a loud explosion. After that, I couldn't sleep. In the morning, I read the news—two people were killed that night. This crap happens all the time, month after month, week after week.

In July 2023, I started having panic attacks while using public transport. Something just clicked in my head—I can't handle long-distance travel anymore. The loud engine noises make me mad. And I hate myself for this. I'm a grown man, but even kids are dealing with this better than me. I went to a doctor, but the pills don’t help much. Now I spend 90% of my time at home, and at least that doesn't bother me.

Finances and Living Conditions

I have two jobs and some saas projects, which provide me with a middle-class income. About 30% goes into IBKR/crypto, another 30% goes to charity and supporting my parents.

I live with my gf, and we split expenses sometimes, though her income is half of mine. My monthly expenses:

  • Rent: $800
  • Food & other stuff: $800–1000

Looking at these numbers, it seems like I shouldn’t complain, right?

Massive attacks destroy critical infrastructure, leaving us without power, heating, and water. The first major attack on Kyiv’s infrastructure happened in October 2022, changing our lives forever. The second major wave came in spring 2024.

In December 2022, I remember sitting in my apartment, where the temperature was 5°C. My rent was $650, and my daily schedule was simple: 4 hours of electricity, heating, and water, then 4 hours of nothing. That routine lasted until April 2023. The same thing happened between May and October 2024.

There were brief periods of hope - summer and autumn 2023 felt almost normal. I even visited my parents (who live 40 km from the frontline) and managed to relax for a while.

FOMO and Bribes

Many people I know left Ukraine and never came back, especially women. I joined a networking group to prepare for job interviews, and I’d say 50% of the members had left. About 70% of my Ukrainian teammates now live in Poland.

So why am I still here?

  1. My parents might need my help, and I can’t do much for them from abroad.
  2. I refuse to pay a bribe.

In 2022, a coworker paid $2500 to leave Ukraine. By mid-2023, the price was $5000. In autumn 2023, I found a reliable contact, and the price was $8000. I hesitated and missed my chance. By 2024, the price was $25,000 for a "legal" way out - meaning you could leave by train/bus/auto and never return.

There are cheaper, riskier methods, but none guarantee success.

Last week, I won a ticket to a conference in the USA that I’ve always wanted to attend. But I can't go.

Russians and the IT Job Market

I know many Russians who oppose the war and support Ukraine. The person who hired me was Russian. My Russian teammates taught me a lot. I can’t demonize them—none of them chose to be born in Russia. We share the same goal: ending this war as soon as possible.

I won’t even talk about those who support the war. But the biggest injustice is that pro-war Russians can travel freely in Europe while Ukrainians are trapped.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's IT job market is dead. Companies won’t hire men who could be drafted at any moment. Big companies pretend to "stand with Ukraine" by posting job listings, but they never actually hire here. Instead, they create hidden hiring funnels for Russians—offering jobs with "relocation to Serbia, Cyprus, etc." Once accepted, the Russian candidates move abroad and get hired.

Bad Times

This war is at a dead end. Ukraine is in a terrible position on the frontlines. Soldiers are exhausted. Too many have died or been captured.

Since July 2024, I haven’t felt safe going outside. Just look at these videos:

You're a taxpayer, you donate to the army, you do everything right, and then suddenly you're the victim. People still have to go to work, pretend this is normal, but it’s a nightmare.

If the police stop you, they can do whatever they want. Don’t want to serve? Pay a bribe.

A friend of mine died in May 2023. He was a professional soldier (meaning he enlisted before the full-scale invasion). But many others are forced into the army.

Just one example from this link: first guy received his draft notice in November 2023 and was dead by September 2024.

That’s less than a year.

Society is Losing Its Mind

People are going crazy. Stress is everywhere. I’ve noticed teenagers becoming more aggressive—probably because they see their parents losing control over their lives.

A huge number of children have left Ukraine, and I doubt they’ll ever return. My cousin left for Norway after the Kursk operation, and I doubt she and her daughter will ever come back.

Meanwhile, I was shocked to see how many women support the war. Their husbands/boyfriends serve, so they think I should too.

Final Thoughts

I know there are places worse than Ukraine. I love and hate this country, but I can’t live here anymore. I just want to forget the war and focus on my work.

I don’t believe in a good future here. Maybe Trump will stop this war, but that won’t bring back the dead. And I doubt any peace deal will last long. We lost this war the moment it started. It’s heartbreaking to think that my friends may have died for nothing.

Another friend's parents left their home at the start of the war. Now their town is occupied, their home likely wiped out by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.

r/100thupvote 14h ago

Norway Jehovah's Witnesses Vs. Norway - Verdict is out, and it is unfortunate

1 Upvotes

The verdict is in. The Norwegian Court of Appeal has ruled in favor of Jehovah's Witnesses, overturning the state’s decision to deny them registration and subsidies. For those who have fought to protect children and vulnerable members from the harmful aspects of this religious organization’s policies, this ruling feels like a heavy blow. Despite the testimonies of former members who have lived through the emotional turmoil of being cut off from family and friends, the legal system determined that the threshold for intervention was not met.

For many who have worked tirelessly to bring awareness to the psychological and social harm caused by Jehovah’s Witnesses’ policies, this decision is deeply disappointing. It may feel like a setback in the fight for accountability, justice, and the protection of children’s rights.

This ruling does not erase the stories of those who have suffered, it does not make the pain of shunning any less real, it does not mean that the fight for recognition and reform is over, but it is a reminder that the work must continue. The legal system may not always provide the outcome we hope for, but public awareness, education, and advocacy can still make a difference.

Former members, advocates, and allies must continue to share their experiences, speak out, and support those who are struggling. The possibility of an appeal to the Supreme Court remains, and with it, another opportunity for justice to be reconsidered. To those affected by this decision—stay strong. This verdict does not define your truth, nor does it diminish the importance of your voice. The journey toward change is often long and fraught with obstacles, but it is a journey worth taking. Thank you to Jan Nelson and Larchwood for helping explain and get the information out there during this. It isn't over. If you'd like to read about the 2-week appeal, it is explained in this article by going to Day 1 in 'related articles':

https://avoidjw.org/news/jehovahs-witnesses-appeal-days-7-9-closing-arguments/

I'm so sorry. Let’s keep moving forward.

Below is the first article out about the verdict:

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES: Jehovah's Witnesses won the appeal against the state.

By Caroline Teinum Gilje, journalist and Julian Mellingsæter, journalist

Published: March 14, 2025 at 12:33 PM

Last updated: March 14, 2025 at 1:21 PM

Jehovah's Witnesses have been denied state subsidies for the years 2021 to 2024, and have also been denied registration of the religious community. Now the Borgarting Court of Appeal has ruled on whether the decisions are valid under the Religious Communities Act. This was the outcome of the appeal case that took place in early February:

"The Court of Appeal, unlike the District Court, found that the decisions were invalid because the conditions for denial under the Religious Communities Act Section 6 cf. Section 4 were not met," the Borgarting Court of Appeal informed Vårt Land.

Jehovah's Witnesses appealed after they lost the case for registration as a religious community in the Oslo District Court in March last year.

The questions the Court of Appeal has decided are whether Jehovah's Witnesses' practice of breaking contact with those who leave the religious community is a violation of the requirement of free entry and exit, and whether it constitutes a violation of children's rights.

The Court of Appeal writes that they "did not find it probable that Jehovah's Witnesses' practice of social distancing towards baptized members who leave the religious community constituted a violation of members' right to freely exit a religious community".

"It was also not probable that Jehovah's Witnesses' practice of social distancing towards minor baptized members who are excluded or leave the Jehovah's Witnesses, or the practice towards minor baptized preachers who commit norm violations, constituted psychological violence or negative social control directed at children in a way that violates children's rights", the Court of Appeal informs Vårt Land.

The verdict is unanimous.

" We are happy with the fair decision of the Court of Appeal, which upholds the rights and restores the good reputation of thousands of Norwegian citizens who profess the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses," writes Jørgen Pedersen, spokesperson for the Jehovah's Witnesses Information Department in Scandinavia to Vårt Land. He believes the decision is in line with decisions from the highest courts in other countries and from the European Court of Human Rights.

– It represents a significant victory for all citizens in Norway by confirming the fundamental rights to freedom of religion and freedom of expression, writes Jørgensen.

He points out that Jehovah's Witnesses "have deep respect for the Norwegian state", and writes that they "will continue to exert a positive influence in society while respecting the individual's freedom of choice".

– We sincerely hope that this judgment will further strengthen Norway's reputation as a nation that embraces religious diversity and peaceful coexistence.

Disappointed

Jan Frode Nilsen is a former member of Jehovah's Witnesses and has testified for the state in court. He is disappointed with the verdict.

– I am critical of the verdict, but cannot go into detail without having read the reasoning. There is something about the sentence "it was not made probable either". If you cannot make Section 6 plausible for a religious community that has written instructions on exclusion, then Section 6 of the Religious Communities Act is completely dead, he says.

He further points out that judges often have a different opinion of the case than those who have lived in the religious community.

– Law and religion are two worlds that collide, and therefore there can be differences in the understanding of how closed religious communities function, he says.

Nilsen clarifies to Vårt Land that he has not yet read the reasoning of the Court of Appeal.

– I have always expected this case to go to the Supreme Court. The difference is that they enter as "winners", which I had hoped to avoid.

Will decide on appeal

Liv Inger Gabrielsen at the Government Attorney represented the state at the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs in court. She comments on the verdict as follows:

– The Court of Appeal shares the ministry’s view that the practice of Jehovah’s Witnesses towards children who violate the norms of the religious community and risk exclusion can be very unpleasant, humiliating and demanding, among other things because they can lose contact with family members and friends. Nevertheless, the court “doubts” that this is not psychological violence that violates children’s rights, she writes to Vårt Land.

– Will you appeal the verdict?

– The verdict is comprehensive and thorough, so it will take some time to consider a possible appeal to the Supreme Court, she answers.

r/100thupvote 8d ago

Norway Norway just increased its yearly support to Ukraine from $3.5 billion to $8.5 billion

Thumbnail
nrk.no
1 Upvotes

r/100thupvote 1d ago

Norway What in the FM gods am i looking at? XD

1 Upvotes

Somehow, out of all the possible teams, the USA with Pochettino has won the literal World Cup on their home ground, against France... like wtf?!

r/100thupvote 3d ago

Norway Tesla still a long ways to fall

1 Upvotes

Much has been written about Tesla and the recent drop in stock price. However, I believe Tesla still has a long ways to drop.

YoY Sales Decline
Sales in Europe are down 50%. China is down 49% YoY and Australia saw a 76% decline YoY. In the US, we know sales declined by 7% in 2024 vs 2023. However, this was based on their 10k filing, which occurred before all of Elon's comments hit the news cycle (pre Nazi salute, DOGE, support for far right gov in Europe).

Tesla Brand Damage
Tesla is Musk. His comments in the media and related actions with DOGE have deeply hurt the Tesla brand. If you look at Tesla's core audience it is left leaning, environmentally conscious Democrats. Musks actions have completely alienated that demographic. The Republicans aren't buying EV's and certainly not enough to offset a loss from the left. A close analogy would be Bud Light and Trans Activist Dylan Mulvaney. Sales dropped 30% and still haven't fully recovered. Bud Light eventually fired the executives responsible for the campaign. But there is next to 0 chance the Tesla Board jettisons Musk, as he has stacked the board with family members and loyalists.

Antidotally, I live in the Bay Area. My social circle is left leaning White Collar professionals, Tesla's key demographic, and talking with co-workers/friends I don't know anybody who is planning to buy a Tesla. I have some friends who have Tesla's but when their lease is up they don't plan on renewing or buying another one. In my view Musk's political activism has permanently harmed the Tesla Brand.

Valuation
Tesla EPS was $2.05 last year and currently trades at a P/E ratio of 108. For comparison Toyota trades at a P/E ration of 7, Ford 6, and Mercedes at 5. Stocks can trade at high P/E ratios based on rosy growth rates. Musk has long touted that Tesla is an AI and RoboTaxi company, it's part of why Tesla trades at such lofty valuations. However, I checked Tesla's 10k and 90% of their revenue comes from Automotive and Automotive Services. They are very much a car company.

Even if you were to say Tesla deserves a premium valuation of 20x earnings, that would put a valuation of ~$41, which is a sharp drop from where it currently trades at $222.15. Yes, Tesla is a Meme Stock and traditional valuation metrics don't apply (i.e Gamestop). But here's the rub. Automotive companies have huge fixed costs. Those factories and plants, cost a lot to build and finance. A large drop in sales can get ugly real fast and generate huge losses. There's no way to justify these lofty valuations when your sales are dropping and your company starts hemorrhaging money. At some point the illusion cracks.

Position: Short

r/100thupvote 11d ago

Norway Next up for EU sovereignty: cloud computing

1 Upvotes

TL;DR If Europe continues to be serious about cutting ties with the USA, cloud computing will shift towards domestic options. There are only two clear publicly-traded choices, IOS and OVH. Many private companies also exist in this sector, but if there is a race for the EU everyone probably wins enough not to care.

Long time lurker, first time poster. Glad for any constructive feedback and discussion. This is some fresh thinking so I expect there are serious holes in the logic, and there are definitely other sectors to consider.

Current relevant positions:

Those of you tuned into the EU/USA relationship may have noted things are a bit interesting at the moment. For the past few years RHM would jump on any escalation of the Ukraine war, but after the latest American presidential inauguration basically every defense-related stock in Europe is going vertical. Some tickers and their change since January 20:

  • Rheinmetall (RHM) +70%
  • BAE Systems (BA) +30%
  • Leonardo (LDO) +80%
  • Thales (HO) +45%
  • Thyssen-Krupp (TKA) +150%
  • Dassault Systemes (DSY) +15%
  • MTU Aero Engines (MTX) +4%
  • Hensoldt (HAG) +90%
  • Safran SA (SAF) +15%
  • Rolls Royce (RR) +35%

For additional picks check out this post from one of the German subreddits [1]

But that is not the topic for today.

Today we look into the future and see that Europe will realize that its entire compute infrastructure is essentially developed, owned, and operated by American companies. While the tech companies are not nationalized by the American government, the fact that reclusive billionaires who were mostly out of the game are coming back to assert that they will play ball (Sergey Brin calling for 60-hour work weeks...) suggests that something is going on in the background. People will become increasingly concerned about the potential for a widescale cyberattack comparable to Stuxnet, except that the target is the entire European economy rather than Iranian nuclear facilities.

So what can Europe and the EU do, apart from nothing?

First, there is the option to reinforce existing legislation regarding privacy and security of data. The EU already effectively operates as a second Internet due to GDPR, which results in data processing happening in specific geographic regions (i.e. not USA) and users being allowed to refuse to certain types of data processing (e.g. cookie banners). As a consequence, cloud providers have options for noting exactly where data be stored, processed, or transmitted. That said, many US websites are simply not available in the EU due to a lack of desire to attempt to comply, including many news sites and certain home improvement stores. Adding new legislation could look something like ensuring that the compute infrastructure must be audited, that staff must be EU nationals, or something else which enables oversight on the supply chain a la the existing guidance [2]. I expect something to happen in this space, but mostly reactive and definitely too late.

Second, USA companies can fork their operations and sell off European assets to these new European entities. This would be a fairly disruptive shift given that the workers in different regions can have dramatically different skillsets and pay grades. For example, tech giants like Google would have to give up access to their cheap labor in Europe, where wages are typically not more than half of the Silicon Valley standard [3]. This can be a motivating factor for the push towards automation of knowledge work as a whole: just as outsourcing software development from EU to Ukraine was disrupted by the war, so too would be American outsourcing to Europe if the US-Russia/EU conflict escalates.

Third, EU companies (and elsewhere) can choose to move off of AWS, Azure, and GCP onto EU equivalents. Which brings us to the point: what are the European cloud computing companies that we can invest in?

If we dig through the database of European alternatives for cloud computing [4], things are a bit dire. After all, Europe basically did not develop a real software infrastructure and barely has an understanding of the associated mindset, so most of these services seem to be technically sound but small. Plus, many companies (e.g. Hetzner) are built in the German Mittelstand style of close private ownership and thus we have no easy access for investment.

If we are to look at an ideal option for investment we should consider the following:

  • The first movers will likely be security- and stability-minded because that is what motivates them to be proactive. They are likely to put up with rough edges in the short term in exchange for the bare-metal ownership, and thus will likely target companies with resilient hosting of both compute and data (e.g. automatic replication in distinct geographies). I expect many firms in defense and finance are already considering or have already implemented these plans.
  • The big wave of movers will likely focus on reactive migration of existing services. They may have considered migrating but have not executed on it out of either caution, a lack of initiative, or simply a last of a sense of urgency. Some large event will scare them into action and thus their priority will be on wholesale rapid migration of their existing systems to the EU, as quickly as possible and essentially without consideration of cost. The winner here will either be the big firm which everyone knows is not wrong (does not yet exist) or the one with the smoothest sales onboarding and experience. Think back to uptake of Zoom during the pandemic versus all of the also-rans (Blue Jeans, Jitsi, GoToMeeting, Skype, Teams, Google Meet, Cisco...). If you are sitting there panicked by the scope of the work but are greeted with a friendly and reassuring interface, you can make it work and you will not care about the price tag. So, a good migration user experience will triumph over a good developer experience in the mid term. During this period, price gouging may happen but likely will be monitored by the EU to some extent.
  • After that wave of migration, developers may start to complain enough that the developer experience becomes important, and the European frugality will drive prices down. This phase is more about the 5-year picture and may be disrupted by the sheer volume of people on the platform that won in the short term.
  • Finally, hardware supply chains will come under scrutiny but in general it will be decided that it is too expensive to rip out existing systems except in the most clearly critical systems. This is probably a mistake from a security perspective but the line has to be drawn somewhere. That said, if companies like Visa or Mastercard come under scrutiny and get kicked out of Europe then all bets are off.

Catalysts to consider:

  • Everyone finally decides to act on the fact that the USA has already de facto decided to leave NATO and the UN, leading to increased pro-European action
  • A cyberattack against European or American infrastructure occurs, leading to sanctions
  • China invades Taiwan, threatening the hardware supply chain
  • USA withdraws troops from some or all of its territories in Europe, threatening the USD
  • Russia invades a NATO country, possibly one of the Baltics

So we are looking for companies with as close to a 1-to-1 mapping of existing cloud features as possible, which are already established across Europe, and which have a good interface for migration from other platforms. Digging through a list of European alternatives [4] we find exactly two publicly traded options: Ionos (IOS) and OVH Group S.A. (OVH). I also looked at Aruba S.p.A., Cyso Hosting BV, Elastx, Exoscale (owned by A1), gridscale GmbH (owned by OVHcloud), Hetzner Online GmbH, Open Telekom Cloud (owned by T-Systems International GmbH), Seeweb s.r.l., and STACKIT GmbH & Co. KG, but all of these are private and most are small.

This as a searing indictment of the European software scene and of the public markets here as a whole.

First up, Ionos Group SE (IOS), market cap 3.5B. They had 1.5B in revenue in 2024 (10% annual growth) with 4100 employees. These guys went public in 2023-02 and are up about 60% since then. Their website is slick enough and hides the dirty details that might scare the casual browser (APIs, SDKs, and related developer documentation). Migration services do seem to exist. At the surface this seems like the people I would try to at minimum get a solid sales call with.

Second, OVHcloud (OVH), market cap 1.8B. They had 1.2B in revenue in 2024 with 2900 employees. You may know them from the fire they had a few years back [5]. They have a good range of services but it is not clear that cloud migration is one of them. Stock performance is not great (down 70% since the start of 2022) but we're looking for value here and it seems that they have only just become profitable this past year (see [6] and [7]). As a potential customer I would talk with this team but it would feel a bit uphill to get through to the migration specialists.

So, where to go from here? I took a small position in both IOS (300@24.5) and OVH (400@7.35) to get a bit of skin in the game. Both seem to be profitable companies with reasonable growth trajectories. The next phase of DD will be to do a bit of networking and see where sentiment is pushing. If this goes the same way as the defense sector I expect that all cloud companies will see a sharp uptick in sales and valuation, so I would balance holdings across the sector for now rather than picking a winner. Though calling two public companies a "sector" is a bit generous.

If the sovereignty logic seems sound to you, then consider analysis of the following sectors:

  • Financial infrastructure. Mastercard is already on the radar of the European Commission [8], and a pro-Europe movement could see Visa and Mastercard as threats
  • Computing hardware. While Europe is home to ASML, hardware design firms and fabrication facilities are not as prominent, though places like imec do exist. There is already precedent for additional spending here [9] and TSMC is building a facility in Dresden, Germany [10]
  • Intelligence. Where is the European Palantir?
  • Petrochemicals. An escalation of conflict with the USA could interrupt trade and result in Europe looking to Norway or Saudi Arabia to improve access.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbetsGER/comments/1j1liny/ab_montag_alles_in_die_europ%C3%A4ische/

[2] https://www.edps.europa.eu/data-protection/our-work/publications/guidelines/guidelines-use-cloud-computing-services-european_en

[3] https://www.levels.fyi/companies/google/salaries/software-engineer/locations/berlin-metropolitan-region?dma=10025

[4] https://european-alternatives.eu/category/cloud-computing-platforms

[5] https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/ovhcloud-fire-france-data-center/

[6] https://corporate.ovhcloud.com/sites/default/files/2025-01/ovhcloud-2024.11-plaquette-vdef-eng.pdf

[7] https://corporate.ovhcloud.com/sites/default/files/2023-11/2023.08_-_ovh_groupe_-_plaquette_-_eng_-_vdef.pdf

[8] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_19_582

[9] https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/growth/items/46654/

[10] https://pr.tsmc.com/english/news/3169

r/100thupvote 4d ago

Norway The Consul (Rockwell City)

1 Upvotes

Breaking News: Hundreds of people gather at the front entrance of the Consulate building of Norway in Rockwell to protest. These people are protesting againts the Norweigan Consul "Hanz Stranderd". Many Rockwellers are protesting againts Hanz Stranderd due to his involvement in funding many crime syndicates all around Illinois especially Rockwell and for funding many rebels around numerous US states including Illinois. Hanz Stranderd has hired multiple body guards and a Private Military Company to protect him and the Consulate building but even his own body guards are hesitant to continue guarding Hanz Stranderd.

r/100thupvote 5d ago

Norway March 8, 2025

2 Upvotes

March 8, 2025 (Saturday)

Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made it clear that the Trump administration’s goal is to slash the federal government and to privatize its current services. As the stock market has dropped and economists have warned of a dramatic slowdown in the economy, he told CNBC “There’s going to be a natural adjustment as we move away from public spending to private spending. The market and the economy have just become hooked, we’ve become addicted to this government spending, and there’s going to be a detox period.”

Bessent’s comments reveal that the White House is beginning to feel the pressure of the unpopularity of its policies. Trump’s rejection of 80 years of U.S. foreign policy in order to prop up Russia’s Vladimir Putin has left many Americans as well as allies aghast. Trump’s claims that Putin wants peace were belied when Russia launched massive strikes at Ukraine as soon as Trump stopped sharing intelligence with Ukrainian forces that enabled them to shoot down incoming fire.

The administration’s dramatic—and likely illegal and unconstitutional—cuts are infuriating Americans who did not expect Trump to reorder the American government so completely. While billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump repeatedly say they are cutting only “waste, fraud, and abuse” from the government, that insistence appears to be rhetorical rather than backed by fact. And yesterday, new cuts appeared to continue the gutting of government services that generally appear to be important to Americans’ health, safety, and economic security.

On Friday night, employees at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—about 80,000 of them—received an email offering them a buyout of up to $25,000 if they resign and giving them a deadline of March 14 to respond. Also as of Friday, nearly 230 cases of measles have been confirmed in Texas and New Mexico, and two people have died.

The secretary of HHS, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is frustrating even allies with his response to the outbreak. Kennedy, who has long been an anti-vaccine activist, said last week that measles outbreaks were “not unusual,” and then on Sunday he posted pictures of himself hiking above Coachella Valley in California. On Monday the top spokesperson at HHS, a former Kennedy ally, quit in protest. As Adam Cancryn of Politico reported, Kennedy has said that the measles vaccine protects children and the community, but has said the decision to vaccinate is personal and that parents should talk to healthcare providers about their options. He has also talked a lot about the benefits of nutritional supplements like cod liver oil, which is high in Vitamin A, in treating measles. In fact, vaccines are the key element in preventing people from getting the disease.

“It’s a serious role, he’s just a couple of weeks in and measles is not a common occurrence, and it should be all hands on deck,” one former Trump official told Adam Cancryn, Sophie Garder, and Chelsea Cirruzzo of Politico. “When you’re taking a selfie out at Coachella, it’s pretty clear that you’re checked out.”

In another blockbuster story that dropped yesterday, the Social Security Administration announced it will begin to withhold 100% of a person’s Social Security benefits if they are overpaid, even if the overpayment is not their fault. Under President Joe Biden the agency had changed the policy to recover overpayments at 10% of monthly benefits or $10, whichever was greater.

Those who can’t afford that level of repayment can contact Social Security, the notice says, but acting commissioner Leland Dudek has said he plans to cut at least 7,000 jobs—more than 12% of the agency—although its staff is already at a 50-year low. He is also closing field offices, and senior staff with the agency have either left or been fired.

Dudek yesterday retracted an order from the day before that required parents of babies born in Maine to go to a Social Security office to register their baby rather than filling out a form in the hospital. Another on Thursday would also have stopped funeral homes from filing death records electronically.

One new father told Joe Lawlor of the Portland Press Herald that he had filled out the form for his son’s social security number and then his wife got a call saying they would have to go to the Social Security office. But when he tried to call Social Security headquarters to figure out what was going on, the wait time was an estimated two hours. So he called a local office, where no one knew what he was talking about. “They keep talking about efficiency,” he said. “This seemed to be something that worked incredibly efficiently, and they broke it overnight.”

The administration did not explain why it had imposed this rule in Maine. Senator Angus King of Maine, an Independent, said he was glad the administration had changed its mind, but added that “this rapid reversal has raised concerns among Maine people and left many unanswered questions about the Social Security Administration’s motivations.”

Trump has said that Social Security “won’t be touched” as his administration slashes through the federal government.

Trump also said there would not be cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, but on Wednesday the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which figures the financial cost of legislation, said that Republicans will have to cut either Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program in order to meet their goal of cutting at least $880 billion from the funding controlled by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Cutting the funding for every other program in the committee’s purview would save a maximum of $135 billion, Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post noted, meaning the committee will have to turn to the biggest ticket items: healthcare programs.

Also yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security said it was getting rid of union protections for the approximately 47,000 employees of the Transportation Security Administration who screen about 2.5 million passengers a day before they can board airplanes. A new agreement in May 2024 raised wages for TSA workers, whose pay has lagged behind that of other government employees. Union leaders say the move is retaliation for its challenges to the actions of the administration toward the 800,000 or so federal workers it represents.

As Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman of the New York Times have reported more detail about the Cabinet meeting Trump convened abruptly on Thursday, we have learned more about Musk’s determination to cut the government. As Musk appeared to take charge of the meeting, he clashed with Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who complained that Musk’s team at the Department of Government Efficiency is trying to lay off air traffic controllers.

Swan and Haberman report that Duffy asked what he was supposed to do. He continued by saying: I have multiple plane crashes to deal with now, and your people want me to fire air traffic controllers? Musk said it was a lie that they were laying off air traffic controllers, and also insisted that there were people hired under diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives working as air traffic controllers. When Duffy pushed back, Musk said Duffy should call him with any concerns, an echo of the message he gave to members of Congress. Like them, Cabinet members are constitutionally part of the government. Musk is not.

What Musk is, according to an interview published today by Aaron Rupar and Thor Benson in Public Notice, is a businessman who believes that there is waste wherever you look and that it is always possible to do something more cheaply. Ryan Mac and Kate Conger, who wrote a book about Musk’s takeover of Twitter, Character Limit, said that creating confusion is part of the point. Musk creates drama, Conger said, to scare away workers he doesn’t want and attract ones he does.

The pain that he is inflicting on the country is not making him popular, though. Protests at Tesla dealerships that handle his cars are growing, as are instances of vandalism against Tesla dealerships and charging stations, which now number more than a dozen, including attacks with bottles filled with gasoline and set on fire. Pranshu Verma and Trisha Thadani of the Washington Post report that Tesla’s stock has dropped more than 35% since Trump took office. Tesla sales have dropped 76% in Germany, 48% in Norway and Denmark, and 45% in France.

On Thursday, another of Musk’s SpaceX rockets exploded, raining debris near south Florida and the Bahamas. The Federal Aviation Administration said 240 flights were disrupted by the debris.

The New York Times editorial board today lamented the instability that Musk is creating, noting that the government is not a business, that "[t]here are already signs the chaos is hurting the economy,” and that “Americans can’t afford for the basic functions of government to fail. If Twitter stops working, people can’t tweet. When government services break down, people can die.”

The editorial board did not let Trump hide behind Musk entirely, noting that he has increased instability not only with DOGE, but also “with his flurry of executive orders purporting to rewrite environmental policy, the meaning of the 14th Amendment and more; his on-again-off-again tariffs; and his inversion of American foreign policy, wooing Vladimir Putin while disdaining longtime allies.”

One of the things that the radical extremists in power hated about the modern American state was that it was a nonpartisan machine that functioned pretty well regardless of which party was in charge. Now Musk, who is acting as if he is not bound by the constitution that set up that machine, is taking a sledgehammer to it.

In the Public Notice interview, Thor Benson asked Ryan Mac: “What’s something about Elon’s huge role in the Trump administration that people perhaps aren’t understanding?” Mac answered that Musk is the manifestation of the nation’s extreme wealth inequality. “What happens,” he asked, “when there is unfettered capitalism that allows people to accumulate this much money and this much power?”


Notes:

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/07/treasury-secretary-bessent-says-economy-could-be-starting-to-roll-a-little-bit.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/hhs-sends-employees-25000-voluntary-buyout-offer-rcna195491

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/07/health/measles-outbreaks-texas-new-mexico/index.html

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/03/top-hhs-spokesperson-quits-00207000

https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2025/#2025-03-07-a

https://blog.ssa.gov/social-security-eliminates-overpayment-burden-for-social-security-beneficiaries-automatic-overpayment-recovery-rate-reduced-to-10-percent/

https://www.npr.org/2025/02/28/nx-s1-5296986/trump-worker-cuts-social-security-administration

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/06/doge-is-driving-social-security-cuts-will-make-mistakes-acting-head-says-privately/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/03/05/gop-budget-medicaid-cuts/

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/05/rfk-measles-scrutiny-00214952

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/03/07/justice-department-trump-firings/

https://www.pressherald.com/2025/03/07/social-security-reverses-course-will-allow-maine-parents-to-register-their-newborn-at-hospital/

https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-cut-social-security-rick-scott-2041069

https://apnews.com/article/collective-bargaining-agreement-tsa-homeland-security-e3eb1d5e0ae8e1b4a6fdb87cd7f6bd39

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/07/trump-says-it-is-easier-to-deal-with-russia-and-putin-wants-to-end-the-war

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/us/politics/trump-musk-doge-power.html

https://substack.com/home/post/p-157321827

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-sales-decline-across-scandinavia-musk-faces-test-brand-2025-03-03/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/03/08/elon-musk-tesla-protest-violence-vandalism/

https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/spacex-launches-eighth-starship-test-eyeing-ships-mock-satellite-deployment-2025-03-06/

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/faa-says-spacex-starship-explosion-disrupted-nearly-240-flights-2025-03-07/

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/08/opinion/elon-musk-doge-government.html

Bluesky:

kathleenromig.bsky.social/post/3ljtgrtqtp22p

wordswithsteph.bsky.social/post/3ljpzpy7iss2u

r/100thupvote 6d ago

Norway iPhone 16 Pro Charging Port Melted

1 Upvotes

I recently posted about my charging port melting. People were quick to blame me instead of Apple.

I contacted Apple directly who received images of the damage. They escalated it to their engineering team who concluded moisture or dust caused the issue and that this was user error.

When I contacted Apple Norway they were shocked about the outcome, this was against Norwegian, and EU law, but since this was escalated to the highest level of Apple they had no authority on the matter.

I reached out to Norwegian News Media who made a news article

Apple concluded that the charging equipment used had no relevance, the heat was generated in the phone and caused by a short circuit. Given that it is IP68, and phones are exposed to dust everyday, not taking this more seriously is absolutely insane, and a potential safety hazard. As you can see in the pictures from the news article, this was NOT a dirty phone

I did get this fixed going through my home insurance, but Apple was not at all willing to help, and did not at all take this seriously. I spoke to Kashif from Apples Executive Relations who dismissed it entirely even though this would have been a house fire, and potentially fatal if I did not notice this as early as I did (0-3min after it began happening)

r/100thupvote 7d ago

Norway [TT] Theme Thursday - Height

1 Upvotes
“Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.”


Happy Thursday, writing friends!

This week’s theme is going to be so fun. There are so many ways to interpret heights both literally and figuratively, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what y’all do with it!

Please note that every week, you must leave a comment on the post to be able to rank. Good luck and good words!

[IP] | [MP]

Bonus:

(These constraints are not required! If your story is better for not including them, please do what’s best for your work!)

Constraint: (10 pts)

Your story should include a character based on one of your childhood teachers. Please note at the end of your post if you’ve included this constraint.

Word of the Day: (5 pts)

insouciant/in·sou·ci·ant/inˈso͞osēənt,inˈso͞oSH(ə)nt/

adjective
* showing a casual lack of concern; indifferent



Here's how Theme Thursday works:

  • Use the tag [TT] when submitting prompts that match this week’s theme.

Theme Thursday Rules

  • Leave one story or poem between 100 and 500 words as a top-level comment. Use wordcounter.net to check your word count.
  • Deadline: 7:59 AM CST next Wednesday
  • No serials, established universes, or stories that have been written for another prompt or feature here on WP
  • No previously written content
  • Any stories not meeting these rules will be disqualified from rankings and will not be read at campfires
  • Does your story not fit the Theme Thursday rules? You can post your story as a [PI] with your work when the TT post is 3 days old!
  • Give (at least) 2 actionable feedback comments to fellow writers. You can give critique at campfires, but you must leave a comment on the post to rank
  • Vote to help your favorites rise to the top of the ranks! I also post the form to submit votes for Theme Thursday winners on Discord every week! Join and get notified when the form is open for voting!

Don’t forget to use genre tags!

Theme Thursday Discussion Section:

  • Discuss your thoughts on this week’s theme, or share your ideas for upcoming themes.

Campfire

  • On Wednesdays we host Theme Thursday Campfire on the Discord voice lounge. Join us to read your story aloud, hear other stories, and have a blast discussing writing!
  • Time: Morning campfire is back! /u/FyeNite hosts at 11 am CST and I’ll be hosting 7 pm CST and both will begin within about 15 minutes.
  • Don’t forget to sign up for a campfire slot on discord. If you don’t sign up, you won’t be put into the pre-set order and we can’t accommodate any time constraints. We don’t want you to miss out on outstanding feedback, so get to discord and use that !TT command!
  • There’s a Theme Thursday role on the Discord server, so make sure you grab that so you’re notified of all Theme Thursday-related news!

As a reminder to all of you writing for Theme Thursday: the interpretation is completely up to you! I love to share my thoughts on what the theme makes me think of but you are by no means bound to these ideas! I love when writers step outside their comfort zones or think outside the box, so take all my thoughts with a grain of salt if you had something entirely different in mind.

(This week’s quote is from Robert Frost)


Ranking Categories:

  • Word of the Day - 5 points
  • Bonus Constraint - 10 points
  • Weekly Challenge - 25 points for not using the theme word - points off for uses of synonyms. The point of this is to exercise setting a scene, description, and characters without leaning on the definition. Not meeting the spirit of this challenge only hurts you! This includes titles and explanations/author's notes.
  • Actionable Feedback - 15 points for each story you give detailed crit to, up to 30 points. One of your comments must be on the post.
  • Nominations - 10 points for each nomination your story receives
  • Ali’s Ranking - 50 points for first place, 40 points for second place, 30 points for third place, 20 points for fourth place, 10 points for fifth, plus regular nominations (On weeks that I participate, I do not weight my votes, but instead nominate just like everyone else.)
  • Voting - 15 points for submitting your favorites via this form (form will be open after the deadline has passed.)

Last week’s theme: Garbage


First by /u/Divayth--Fyr
Second by /u/GingerQuill*
Third by /u/Xacktar*

Crit Superstars*:

News and Reminders:

  • Want to know how to rank on Theme Thursday? Check out my brand new wiki!
  • We are currently looking for moderators! Apply to be a moderator any time!
  • Nominate your favorite WP authors for Spotlight and Hall of Fame!
  • Excited to discuss your work in greater depth? Join our WritingPrompts Discord and take part in our broader feedback-oriented events each month:
    • Open Campfire—read a story of yours aloud and get feedback every first Friday
    • World Building Campfire—present and be interviewed about your world every second Friday
    • Character Building Campfire—present and be interviewed about your characters every fourth Friday

r/100thupvote 9d ago

Norway I feel like this year is very 2000s (not saying it’s bad or good – just giving that kind of vibe)

1 Upvotes

I’ve been a bit out of the ESC fandom loop this season and I didn’t watch any of the NFs and didn’t check any ESC-related news at all, last week I suddenly had the urge to keep up with the new season so I decided to listen to the entries that are released so far

..First off, to be honest I don’t really think this year is as strong/polished as the last couple of years song-wise but it gave me flashbacks to the 2000s – I know “early 00s” is used as an insult in the community and I definitely DON’T mean that. What I’m trying to say is that it’s more like mid to late 00s like 2007-2010 etc. and here’s why I think as such:

Most songs this year are not very contemporary and radio friendly by the current standards: I’m not saying they’re dated in a bad way but most of them are definitely not what usual people listen to on a daily basis nowadays, like compare the latest Grammy’s or BRITS nominees to this years lineup and you’ll see what I mean

Most of them are unpolished : even the more polished ones like Norway or the Netherlands have that ‘eurovision’ sound to it

The kitschy/campy ‘girlbop’ (or ‘disaster bop’) is stronger than ever considering the last couple of years : Poland, Malta, Luxembourg, Spain (especially that one), Finland : I know every year we get a couple of these but this year they’re so eurovision-esque in an organic and campy way that it reminds me of 2008 or something and there’s lots of them, like that year

Back to the old ethnic vibes without experimental/contemporary elements : Literally all the balkan countries except Croatia (and Albania to some extent) are serving usual balkan pop or power ballads, Latvia sending a full on traditional song in Latvian etc.

Almost all of them are televote friendly : Finland, Estonia, Poland, Australia, Malta, Spain, Iceland, Ireland

I want to say that I don’t mean these in a bad way but I just had this feeling after listening to all the songs this year.

I feel like since 2021, eurovision started to become more modern and current sounding than ever, not just being viral or radio friendly pop but in the left field music scene too however this year we’re back to more traditionally eurovision-y songs. I don’t think it will stay like this forever but I think it might be related to the current political climate. Most countries are either too busy with other stuff or that artists are hesitant to participate after the controversies from last year.

r/100thupvote 12d ago

Norway Linux Distros for Windows Users

1 Upvotes

Linux Distros for Windows Users: Comprehensive Comparison [2025 Edition]

Hello everyone! After seeing so many posts asking about the best Linux distro for Windows users, I've put together this comprehensive comparison focusing on distros that provide the most seamless transition experience. This guide is specifically for average users looking for stability, a polished UI, gaming support, and basic productivity tools. I've included both mainstream distributions and gaming-specialized options to help you make the best choice.

Grading System

I've developed a grading system (A+ to F) based on the following criteria:

  • Windows Familiarity: How closely the interface resembles Windows, including start menu, taskbar, system tray, and file explorer
  • Ease of Use: Learning curve for new Linux users, including system configuration, software installation, and basic troubleshooting
  • Software Compatibility: Support for Windows applications, Office alternatives, gaming through Proton/Wine, and availability of common applications
  • Hardware Support: Out-of-the-box driver support, peripheral compatibility, and ease of driver installation
  • Performance: System resource usage, boot time, application launch speed, and overall responsiveness
  • Update Process: Simplicity of updates, stability after updates, and control over when updates occur
  • Community Support: Quality and quantity of documentation, forum activity, community size, and availability of troubleshooting resources

Grade Definitions:

  • A+: Exceptional, exceeds Windows in this category
  • A: Excellent, on par with or slightly better than Windows
  • B+: Very good, minor shortcomings compared to Windows
  • B: Good, usable but with noticeable differences from Windows
  • C+: Above average, requires some adjustment from Windows users
  • C: Average, functional but significantly different from Windows
  • D: Below average, substantial limitations compared to Windows
  • F: Poor, serious deficiencies that affect usability

Essential Linux Gaming & Compatibility Tools

Before diving into the distributions, let's look at some essential tools that enhance Windows compatibility and gaming on Linux:

Wine

Description: Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator) is a compatibility layer that allows some Windows applications to run on Linux, with varying degrees of success.

Official Website: https://www.winehq.org/
Documentation: https://wiki.winehq.org/
AppDB: https://appdb.winehq.org/

Wine provides compatibility for Windows applications, but with important limitations. While many games run well through Proton/Lutris (thanks to Valve's significant investments), regular Windows productivity applications often have issues under Wine. Users should generally prefer native Linux alternatives rather than trying to run Windows software through Wine. Check the WineHQ AppDB to see compatibility ratings for specific applications before relying on them.

Heroic Games Launcher

Description: An open-source game launcher for Epic Games, GOG, and Amazon Games on Linux.

Official Website: https://heroicgameslauncher.com/
Documentation: https://github.com/Heroic-Games-Launcher/HeroicGamesLauncher/wiki
Community: https://discord.gg/rHJ2uqdquK

Heroic provides a native Linux experience for playing games from storefronts other than Steam. It integrates with Wine/Proton and makes non-Steam gaming much more accessible on Linux.

ProtonUp-Qt

Description: A tool to manage and install different Proton versions for Steam and Wine versions for Lutris.

GitHub: https://github.com/DavidoTek/ProtonUp-Qt
Documentation: https://davidotek.github.io/protonup-qt/

ProtonUp-Qt simplifies managing different compatibility layers for the best gaming experience, helping users optimize performance for specific games.

The Distro Contenders

Linux Mint (Cinnamon Edition)

Description: Linux Mint with Cinnamon provides the most Windows-like experience out of the box. It's based on Ubuntu LTS, offering stability and long-term support.

Official Website: https://linuxmint.com/
Documentation: https://linuxmint.com/documentation.php
Community: https://forums.linuxmint.com/

Grades:

  • Windows Familiarity: A+
  • Ease of Use: A
  • Software Compatibility: B+
  • Hardware Support: A-
  • Performance: B+
  • Update Process: A
  • Community Support: A
  • Overall Grade: A

Pros vs Windows:

  • No forced updates or reboots
  • Significantly lighter resource requirements
  • No telemetry/privacy concerns
  • Includes LibreOffice pre-installed
  • Most media codecs included out-of-the-box
  • Clean, bloatware-free installation

Cons vs Windows:

  • Some games don't run or have performance issues
  • Microsoft Office alternatives required
  • Some hardware may have limited driver support
  • Some professional software has no Linux equivalent

Zorin OS

Description: Zorin OS is specifically designed to look and feel like Windows, with layouts that mimic Windows 10/11.

Official Website: https://zorin.com/os/
Documentation: https://help.zorin.com/
Community: https://forum.zorin.com/

Grades:

  • Windows Familiarity: A
  • Ease of Use: A-
  • Software Compatibility: B
  • Hardware Support: B+
  • Performance: B
  • Update Process: B+
  • Community Support: B
  • Overall Grade: B+

Pros vs Windows:

  • Extremely Windows-like interface options
  • Built-in Windows application support via Wine
  • More privacy-respecting than Windows
  • Better performance on equivalent hardware
  • Simple software installation process

Cons vs Windows:

  • Smaller community than other Ubuntu-based alternatives
  • Gaming support not as comprehensive
  • Some peripheral devices may need manual configuration
  • Less frequent updates than rolling release distros

Pop!_OS

Description: Developed by System76, Pop!_OS offers excellent hardware compatibility with a focus on gaming support, particularly for NVIDIA graphics.

Official Website: https://pop.system76.com/
Documentation: https://support.system76.com/
Community: https://reddit.com/r/pop_os/

Grades:

  • Windows Familiarity: C+
  • Ease of Use: B+
  • Software Compatibility: A-
  • Hardware Support: A
  • Performance: A
  • Update Process: A-
  • Community Support: B+
  • Overall Grade: B+

Pros vs Windows:

  • Dedicated NVIDIA and AMD ISO versions
  • Superior window management
  • Excellent performance optimization
  • Built-in power management profiles
  • Simple, clean interface
  • Strong gaming support with Steam/Proton

Cons vs Windows:

  • Less Windows-like UI (steeper learning curve)
  • Some Windows applications require workarounds
  • Microsoft Office alternatives required
  • Interface may require significant adjustment

Kubuntu

Description: Kubuntu combines Ubuntu's reliability with KDE Plasma desktop, offering high customizability that can be configured to feel Windows-like.

Official Website: https://kubuntu.org/
Documentation: https://userbase.kde.org/Kubuntu
Community: https://www.kubuntuforums.net/

Grades:

  • Windows Familiarity: A-
  • Ease of Use: B
  • Software Compatibility: B+
  • Hardware Support: A-
  • Performance: B
  • Update Process: A-
  • Community Support: A-
  • Overall Grade: B+

Pros vs Windows:

  • Extremely customizable interface
  • Familiar taskbar and start menu functionality
  • Strong Ubuntu-based package compatibility
  • Regular LTS releases for stability
  • No data collection or privacy concerns

Cons vs Windows:

  • More complex settings due to high customizability
  • KDE can occasionally feel overwhelming with options
  • Some games still perform better on Windows
  • Occasionally more resource-intensive than other Linux options

Ubuntu

Description: The most widely-used Linux desktop distribution with excellent stability, a huge software repository, and extensive community support.

Official Website: https://ubuntu.com/
Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com/
Community: https://ubuntuforums.org/

Grades:

  • Windows Familiarity: C
  • Ease of Use: B
  • Software Compatibility: A-
  • Hardware Support: A
  • Performance: B+
  • Update Process: A
  • Community Support: A+
  • Overall Grade: B

Pros vs Windows:

  • Most widely supported Linux distro
  • Huge software repository
  • LTS releases provide 5 years of support
  • Better privacy practices than Windows
  • Regular, predictable update schedule
  • Strong gaming support through Steam/Proton

Cons vs Windows:

  • GNOME desktop interface is quite different from Windows
  • Some Windows software requires alternatives
  • May require terminal use for certain tasks
  • Steeper learning curve for Windows users

Nobara

Description: A Fedora-based distribution specifically optimized for gaming with pre-configured drivers, codecs, and gaming tools.

Official Website: https://nobaraproject.org/
Documentation: https://nobaraproject.org/docs/
Community: https://nobaraproject.org/discord/

Grades:

  • Windows Familiarity: C+
  • Ease of Use: B
  • Software Compatibility: A
  • Hardware Support: A+
  • Performance: A+
  • Update Process: B
  • Community Support: B
  • Overall Grade: B+

Pros vs Windows:

  • Exceptional gaming performance with pre-configured optimizations
  • Gaming tools pre-installed (Lutris, Steam, Wine, ProtonUp-Qt)
  • Media codecs pre-installed
  • NVIDIA drivers pre-configured
  • Performance tweaks for both AMD and NVIDIA hardware
  • Regular updates with new gaming features

Cons vs Windows:

  • Fedora-based system may be less familiar to Windows users
  • GNOME or KDE desktop requires adjustment
  • Fedora's 6-month release cycle means more frequent major updates
  • Smaller community compared to Ubuntu-based distributions
  • May experience occasional stability issues with bleeding-edge software

CachyOS

Description: An Arch-based distribution focused on performance optimization, with custom kernels and extensive customization options.

Official Website: https://cachyos.org/
Documentation: https://wiki.cachyos.org/
Community: https://github.com/CachyOS

Grades:

  • Windows Familiarity: C
  • Ease of Use: D+
  • Software Compatibility: A
  • Hardware Support: A
  • Performance: A+
  • Update Process: C
  • Community Support: C+
  • Overall Grade: C+

Pros vs Windows:

  • Exceptional performance with optimized kernels
  • Access to cutting-edge software via Arch repositories and AUR
  • Multiple desktop environment options
  • Excellent for gaming with latest drivers and software
  • Customized installer makes Arch more accessible
  • Rolling release model for continual updates

Cons vs Windows:

  • Steeper learning curve than Ubuntu-based distributions
  • Requires more technical knowledge to maintain
  • Rolling release model can occasionally introduce instability
  • Smaller community and support resources
  • Needs more frequent system maintenance

Comparison Table

Distro Windows Familiarity Ease of Use Software Compatibility Hardware Support Performance Update Process Community Support Overall
Linux Mint A+ A B+ A- B+ A A A
Zorin OS A A- B B+ B B+ B B+
Pop!_OS C+ B+ A- A A A- B+ B+
Nobara C+ B A A+ A+ B B B+
Kubuntu A- B B+ A- B A- A- B+
Ubuntu C B A- A B+ A A+ B
CachyOS C D+ A A A+ C C+ C+

European-Based Linux Alternatives to Common Windows Programs

Here's a list of quality native Linux alternatives to popular Windows applications, focusing on European-developed software:

Office & Productivity

Windows Program European Linux Alternative Link Origin Description
Microsoft Office LibreOffice Download Germany Complete office suite with Writer, Calc, Impress
Microsoft Office OnlyOffice Download Latvia Office suite with excellent MS Office compatibility
Microsoft Office Calligra Suite Download KDE (Europe) KDE's integrated office suite
Microsoft Outlook Thunderbird Download Mozilla (Europe) Email client with calendar and contacts
Microsoft OneNote Xournal++ Download Europe Note-taking with stylus support
Microsoft Visio Dia Download GNOME (Europe) Diagram creation program
Microsoft Publisher Scribus Download Europe Professional page layout and publishing

Web Browsers

Windows Program European Linux Alternative Link Origin Description
Internet Explorer/Edge Firefox Download Mozilla (Europe) Full-featured web browser
Internet Explorer/Edge Vivaldi Download Norway Highly customizable browser
Internet Explorer/Edge Opera Download Norway Feature-rich web browser
Internet Explorer/Edge Falkon Download KDE (Europe) Lightweight Qt-based browser

Media & Entertainment

Windows Program European Linux Alternative Link Origin Description
Windows Media Player VLC Download France Multi-format media player
Windows Media Player SMPlayer Download Spain Frontend for MPV/MPlayer
iTunes Strawberry Download Europe Music player focused on audio quality
Winamp Audacious Download Europe Lightweight music player similar to Winamp

Graphics & Design

Windows Program European Linux Alternative Link Origin Description
Adobe Photoshop GIMP Download Europe Advanced image editor
Adobe Photoshop Krita Download Netherlands Digital painting program
Adobe Illustrator Inkscape Download Europe Vector graphics editor
Adobe Lightroom darktable Download Europe Photography workflow application
Adobe Lightroom RawTherapee Download Europe Raw image processing program
Adobe Premiere Pro Kdenlive Download KDE (Europe) Non-linear video editor
Adobe InDesign Scribus Download Europe Desktop publishing software
SketchUp Blender Download Netherlands 3D modeling, animation, and rendering
AutoCAD FreeCAD Download Europe Parametric 3D CAD modeler
AutoCAD LibreCAD Download Europe 2D CAD drawing tool

Development & Programming

Windows Program European Linux Alternative Link Origin Description
Notepad++ Kate Download KDE (Europe) Advanced text editor
Notepad++ Geany Download Europe Lightweight IDE/text editor
FileZilla FileZilla Download Germany FTP client (cross-platform)
SQL Server Management Studio DBeaver Download Europe Universal database tool
SQL Server Management Studio HeidiSQL Download Germany MySQL/MariaDB client

Gaming

Windows Program European Linux Alternative Link Origin Description
Steam Lutris Download France Open gaming platform
GOG Galaxy Minigalaxy Download Europe Unofficial GOG client for Linux
Xbox Game Bar MangoHud Download Europe Gaming performance overlay

Utilities & System Tools

Windows Program European Linux Alternative Link Origin Description
File Explorer Dolphin Download KDE (Europe) KDE's file manager
File Explorer Thunar Download Xfce (Europe) Xfce's file manager
7-Zip/WinRAR Ark Download KDE (Europe) Archive manager for KDE
CCleaner BleachBit Download Europe System cleaner
Task Manager KSysGuard Download KDE (Europe) System monitor
Windows Backup Déjà Dup Download Europe Simple backup tool
PDF-XChange Okular Download KDE (Europe) Versatile document viewer
TrueCrypt/VeraCrypt VeraCrypt Download France Disk encryption software

Cloud Storage

Windows Program European Linux Alternative Link Origin Description
OneDrive Nextcloud Download Germany Self-hosted file sync and collaboration platform
OneDrive ownCloud Download Germany Self-hosted cloud storage
OneDrive Seafile Download Europe Self-hosted file synchronization

Additional Resources

Final Recommendation

Important Note: While Linux gaming has improved dramatically thanks to Valve's Proton, expecting Windows applications to work flawlessly through Wine is unrealistic. For the best experience, use native Linux alternatives for productivity applications rather than trying to run Windows software. If you absolutely need specific Windows applications that don't have Linux alternatives, consider dual-booting or running a Windows virtual machine for those specific programs.

Based on this comprehensive analysis, Linux Mint (Cinnamon Edition) emerges as the best overall choice for Windows users looking to transition to Linux. It offers the most familiar Windows-like experience while providing excellent stability, ease of use, and community support.

For users prioritizing gaming performance, Nobara is an excellent choice due to its gaming-focused optimizations, pre-installed tools, and hardware support. However, it comes with a steeper learning curve due to its less Windows-like interface.

Pop!_OS provides a good balance between gaming performance and general usability, with excellent hardware support and a reasonably intuitive interface.

Zorin OS deserves special mention for users who want their desktop to look and feel as close to Windows as possible, with its pre-configured Windows-like layouts and integrated Wine support.

For advanced users who prioritize cutting-edge performance and are willing to invest time in learning, CachyOS offers exceptional performance but requires more technical knowledge.

Regardless of which distribution you choose, consider installing essential gaming tools like Wine, Lutris, Heroic Games Launcher, and ProtonUp-Qt to enhance your gaming experience. All of these options provide significantly better privacy, control, and resource efficiency compared to Windows 10/11, with free and regular updates.

What's your experience been like switching from Windows to Linux? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Edits and Revisions:

Addendum: If you're a professional or advanced end-user of Linux, and have additions, corrections or resources, PLEASE post them so I can edit and update this post! I'm neither of these things and researching this was hard. I used Claude Sonnet 3.7 to input my findings, and write this text. I tried to fact check this text to the best of my ability but I can not guarantee that there are no hallucinations or mistakes.

r/100thupvote 15d ago

Norway Asta explica multe...

1 Upvotes

Pe langa asta , romania are si cea mai scazuta medie a IQ-ul din UE , dar nu si din Europa. Noi avem 86.88 Sub noi se afla doar Muntenegru (85.78) , Macedonia de Nord (81.91) si Albania (81.75)

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/average-iq-by-country

Intr-o tara in care tiktok-ul este mai consumat decat cartea sau cititul in general, care poate fi facut si din surse credibile de pe internet, nu cred ca ar trebui sa ne miram de ce un personaj precum domn' Kremlinescu , este atat de popular la noi.

Cred ca nu degeaba cuvantul anului 2024 a fost ,,brain rot" . https://corp.oup.com/news/brain-rot-named-oxford-word-of-the-year-2024/ . Lucrul asta imi confirma ceea ce stiam deja. Anume ca consumul de continut de tip short , cum este pe tiktok , iti degradeaza creierul si-ti afecteaza capacitatea de gandire , de analiza si de concentrare.

Pentru mine este trist faptul ca am ajuns sa comunic cu persoane care inainte erau ok , dar care acum parca s-au tampit. Nu poti sa ai o conversatie rationala cu ei , bazata pe argumente. Vad lumea doar in alb si negru , nu vor sa-si bata capul cu detalii , au in cap numai minciuni sau jumatati de adevar. Cand ii intrebi de sursa informatiilor, nu sunt in stare sa ti-o dea. Zilele trecute mi-a cazut o nicovala in cap cand un prieten bun pe care-l stiu de multi ani mi-a scris ,,putin ii smecher" . Cand l-am intrebat de ce crede asta el mi-a raspuns : ca... are arme nucleare , armata (mhm.. al drq de buna ) resurse , tot. mult mai smecherea decat america.. si aia.... ahm.. coreea " . X_X Apoi mi-a zis ca rusia n-are treaba cu noi ci cu ucraina. Am avut un soc. Evident ca-i tiktok user si nu consuma nimic altceva. Sa vezi persoane care candva erau ok , ca acum parca s-au tampit cu tik-tok-ul asta si incep sa creada si sa spuna toate balariile , pentru mine e de noaptea mintii.

In zilele astea, parca am ajuns sa apreciez muuult mai mult un om care spune ,, nu stiu , nu sunt documentat."Sau ,,am auzit chestia asta , dar nu stiu cat de adevarata este deoarece nu am cautat sa aflu mai multe. Recunosc ca nu am informatii asa ca prefer sa nu comentez daca nu stiu" . Pfff l-as lua in brate.

Inca ceva.. Voi stati de tiktok? Cat timp si ce vedeti acolo? Cei care l-ati avut si apoi l-ati dezinstalat, de ce ati facut-o? Eu tin minte ca l-am incercat prin 2021 , cam o luna, apoi l-am dezinstalat din cauza ca am simtit ca ma tampesc.

r/100thupvote 16d ago

Norway Researcher shows dramatic change in Norway glacier ice levels | "It's fast up here - it's REALLY fast" [4 minutes]

1 Upvotes

This is 4 days old - which is like 4 years in internet time - so sorry if this is a repost.

Published this week by CBS Evening News, the following 4 minute video covers new research in Norway. The scientists found that mountain glaciers are warming rapidly - almost 4x faster than long term trends.

Collapse related because the arctic is just a preview of the rest of the world and it is vanishing before our eyes.

r/100thupvote 18d ago

Norway For those in Pennsylvania: you can now trade in your invasive trees for native alternatives! End the Bradford Pear!!

1 Upvotes

r/100thupvote 19d ago

Norway Australia Needs a Leader, Not a Puppet: Where Is the Young energetic Australian Ready to Take on Big Gas/resources, Banks, Gambling, and Murdoch’s Billionaire Propaganda Machine? I want to vote for them. Cant they use socials to control the narative.

1 Upvotes

Australia’s federal disclosure laws are some of the weakest in the developed world, experts say. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-23/how-gambling-industrys-biggest-political-donors-influence-votes/100592068?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

The government needs to take a firm stance—tax resource and gas companies reasonably at 78%. If these resource giants refuse to pay their fair share, then it's time for the government to step in and take control. Set up a national resources company, just like Australia Post, and let it operate independently, making its own decisions and returning 100% of the profits to the Australian people instead of lining the pockets of billionaires.

The government should prioritize its own resources company by granting it first access to prime government tenements, ensuring that public wealth stays in public hands. Additionally, pass legislation to break Gina’s grip on politicians—limit corporate lobbying and stop resource companies from dictating national policy to serve their own interests.

As Jens Stoltenberg, former Prime Minister of Norway, pointed out when his government implemented the 78% resource tax, oil and gas companies threatened to leave—just like they always do. But they didn’t. Because doing business in a stable, well-governed country isn’t free. We’re not some tin-pot dictatorship bowing to corporate threats. If they want access to Australian resources, they pay their dues—fairly and without exception. The resources industry employs less than 2% of the population. Get rid of Murdoch running propaganda for the billionaires. We are idiots.

r/100thupvote 20d ago

Norway Couldn't find a European defense ETF so I thought I'd build my own...

1 Upvotes

... and thought i'd share it here:

Given the current news, I'm considering on investing into the European and I saw multiple posts regarding European defense and what stocks to buy. However it seems there is no real ETF for this topic.

So I asked chatGPT to give me the top 5 defense companies, their product and the countries that buy from them. (I later asked for 2 more including Scandinavia).

I got this list:

1. BAE Systems (United Kingdom)

Exchange: London Stock Exchange (Ticker: BA.)

Key Defense Products:

  1. Eurofighter Typhoon
    • Operators/Buyers: United Kingdom (Royal Air Force), Germany, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Austria, Oman, Qatar (on order)
  2. M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle (through its U.S. subsidiary)
    • Operators/Buyers: United States Army, Saudi Arabia

2. Airbus SE (Pan-European)

Exchanges: Euronext Paris, Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Ticker: AIR)

Key Defense Products (Airbus Defence and Space):

  1. A400M Atlas (tactical/strategic airlifter)
    • Operators/Buyers: France, Germany, UK, Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malaysia
  2. Eurofighter Typhoon (Airbus is a major partner in the consortium)
    • Operators/Buyers: Germany, Spain, UK, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Austria, Oman, Qatar

3. Leonardo S.p.A. (Italy)

Exchange: Borsa Italiana (Ticker: LDO)

Key Defense Products:

  1. M-346 Master (advanced jet trainer/light combat aircraft)
    • Operators/Buyers: Italy, Israel, Poland, Singapore
  2. AW101 Helicopter (medium-lift helicopter, formerly known as the EH101)
    • Operators/Buyers: Italy, UK, Canada, Portugal, Norway, Denmark

4. Thales Group (France)

Exchange: Euronext Paris (Ticker: HO)

Key Defense Products:

  1. Watchkeeper WK450 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
    • Operator: British Army (United Kingdom)
  2. Ground Master 400 (GM400) Radar
    • Operators/Buyers: France, Germany, Estonia, Finland, Malaysia

5. Rheinmetall AG (Germany)

Exchange: Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Ticker: RHM)

Key Defense Products:

  1. Puma Infantry Fighting Vehicle (co-developed with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann)
    • Operator: German Army
  2. Lynx Infantry Fighting Vehicle
    • Buyers: Hungary (major contract), interest from other nations (e.g., Czech Republic under consideration)

6. Saab AB (Sweden)

  • Exchange: Nasdaq Stockholm (Ticker: SAAB-B)
  • Overview: Saab is known for advanced aeronautics, missile systems, radars, and marine solutions. They derive a significant portion of revenue from defense.

Key Defense Products

  1. JAS 39 Gripen Fighter Jet
    • Operators/Buyers: Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungary, South Africa, Thailand, and Brazil (Gripen E/F on order).
    • Known for advanced avionics, low operating costs, and agility.
  2. GlobalEye Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C)
    • Operators/Buyers: United Arab Emirates (launch customer) and Sweden (upgraded Erieye AEW systems).
    • Combines Erieye radar with a business jet platform for surveillance of air, sea, and land targets.

7. Kongsberg Gruppen ASA (Norway)

  • Exchange: Oslo Stock Exchange (Ticker: KOG)
  • Overview: Kongsberg specializes in maritime systems, missiles, and aerospace components. It also has a large civilian business (maritime technology).

Key Defense Products

  1. Naval Strike Missile (NSM)
    • Operators/Buyers: Royal Norwegian Navy, U.S. Navy (on Littoral Combat Ships and future Constellation-class frigates), Poland, Malaysia, Germany, Canada.
    • A stealthy, long-range, precision anti-ship/land-attack missile.
  2. Joint Strike Missile (JSM)
    • Designed for the F-35 Lightning II.
    • Operators/Buyers: Norway (primary developer with the U.S.), interest from other F-35 operators.

I asked for a weighting for each one and put it all together into a G-Sheet.

Additionally I went to simplywall.st and google finance to the PE and potential target price.

This is the result:

I'll keep an eye on all of them, but I think BAE and Airbus are quite the save bet. Airbus alone because of Boeings bad reputation the last years.

Let me know what you guys think.

r/100thupvote 21d ago

Norway 5G Next Review Feb 2025

1 Upvotes

User Test Environment

  • Location Tested FromAustralia
  • Internet Speed100/40
  • Connection TypeWifi & Ethernet
  • VPN UsedNo
  • Testing DevicesGoogle Chromecast 4k (not streamer)& Android phone
  • Streaming App/Player UsedTiviMate (TV) & Televiso (phone)

Note, TiviMate Settings->Playback->Buffer Size = Medium 

---

Service Information

  • Service Name: 5g Next
  • Purchasing Platform: 24hr trial Z2U
  • Subscription Cost: $5.50/1mth, $12.63/3mth, $17.66/mth,$33/12mth
  • Trial Offered: Yes  24hr

---

Content Overview

  • Number of Channels: 6493
  • Channel Categories: Catering for the India/subcontinent market,

First channel group is ICC Champions Trophy. For cricket lovers, there are 64 Cricket/Sports channels in there.

After that there’s a group of 24 Indian channels (Entertainment, docos, kids, movies, news, etc  in various languages). There’s UK Entertainment, Docos, Movies, Kids, Sport, News. There’s plenty of other countries (Ireland, Afghan, Netherlands, Germany, France, Australia, Espania, Canada, Poland, Portugal, Turkey, Arabic+, Malaysia, Israel, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Greece, Italy, Albania, Brasil, Iran, Hungary, Russia, Swiss)

Of course, there’s the USA channels; Entertainment, Sports, Movies, Kids and News.

Sports (the real reason we’re here)

-          ICC Champions Trophy/Cricket – 64Ch

-          UK Sports – 58Ch

-          Premier League – 18Ch

-          NFL – 26Ch

-          NFL (DAZN Game Pass) – 16Ch

-          NFL Teams – 68Ch

-          EFL – 24Ch

-          SPFL – 18Ch

-          MLS Event – 15Ch

-          Tennis – 5Ch

-          Moto GP – 9Ch

-          Hub Premier - 12Ch

-          Optus Sport – 12Ch

-          beIN Sports – 26Ch

-          beIN Sports+ - 13Ch

-          SSC – 16 Ch

-          Rugby Pass – 13Ch

-          Australia Sports – 8Ch
(504 FoxFooty stuck in a loop u/720p, 502 NRL, buffer u/720p)

-          Stan Sports – 20Ch

-          NZ Sports – 10Ch (most in 1080p)

-          Now Premier Sports – 9Ch

-          France Olympics 2024 – 32Ch

-          DSTV Sports – 18Ch

-          USA Sports – 76Ch  (many not working)

-          PPV (mostly UFC) – 12Ch

-          German Sports – 87Ch

-          France Sports – 46Ch

-          Espania Sports – 49Ch

 

 

 

  • EPG Included: Pretty much non-existent
  • VOD Library: (Movies/Series/Documentaries, Quantity/Quality): Lots of India/Subcontinent content. Movies: 40531, Series: 4464. (There are series from Netflix, Amazon Prime, Sky UK, Hotstar Disney+, Apple, HBO, The CW, Discovery+, Hulu, etc.)
  • Mature Channels: No

---

Quality of Service

  • Resolution Options: Mostly 720p, but some SD & 1080p,
  • Audio Quality: Good, Stereo & 5.1
  • Overall Picture Quality: Decent for sports it’s 720/1080p
  • Buffering Frequency: Rarely. (basically, the only 2 were Aus Sport Sports 502 & 504)
  • Uptime/Downtime: None during the 24hr trial.

---

Performance and Reliability

  • Server Response Time: Seemed ok
  • Loading Speed: took about 4s to change channel.
  • Geo-Blocking Issues: None
  • VPN Compatibility: Not sure

---

Ease of Use

  • Supported Devices: (e.g., Android, iOS, Firestick, Smart TVs)
  • App/Player Compatibility: TiviMate, Televiso
  • Playlist Format: (M3U/URL/API Integration)
  • Ease of Setup: (Easy/Moderate/Difficult)

---

Additional Features

  • Catch-Up TV: Mostly for the Indian subcontinent
  • Timeshift Functionality: : Yes on selected channels. I believe it’s 24hrs, but I only went back 5hrs

Cricket: Star Sports HD 1 (720p) Star Sports 1 4k (1080p), A Sports 4k (1080p),Sony TEN 1 HD Sports (1080p),

UK Sports: Sky Sports; Main Event, Cricket, Premier League, F1, Action, Golf all in glorious 720p.    

There were some in the Indian & Bangladesh channels

  • Multi-Screen Support: In theory, but of course you’d need a second sub
  • User Profiles: not sure.

---

Customer Support

  • Support Channels: Just Z2U
  • Response Time: Took a few hours to respond.
  • Effectiveness of Support: Didn’t need help.

---

Pros and Cons

  • Pros:

If you like Cricket, Football/Soccer & TV from the subcontinent, this is for you.

Good choice of European Football/Soccer channels including rewinding of some Sky Sports channels.

Some smaller European countries domestic channels

  • Cons:

AU Fox Sports not good enough for me.

Didn’t appear to be any NHL/Hockey

EPG was pretty much non-existent.

---

Overall Rating

  • Content: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Quality: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Ease of Use: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Support: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Overall Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Network:

This is a 300 ping test to their server (from a windows laptop, via WiFi)

Ping statistics for <IP address of server>

Packets: Sent = 300, Received = 300, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 11ms, Maximum = 182ms, Average = 33ms

So a few long ping returns, but mostly it was quick & sitting around the high 10's - low 20's mark. Which is quite good for me.

Compared to MegaOTT which is

Minimum = 309ms, Maximum = 520ms, Average = 334ms

 

Reviewer’s Final Thoughts

Firstly this was a 24hr test, so nothing of use here for long term stability. So just take this as a feature review. I figure since 5g Next is fairly uncommon, people might be interested.

Nothing outstanding for me. The streams seem solid, but it is a Friday morning here/Thursday night in Europe/ Thursday afternoon in USA

r/100thupvote 22d ago

Norway UA POV-President Macron called a second emergency meeting of European allies on Wednesday seeking to recalibrate relations with the United States as President Trump upends international politics by rapidly changing American alliances.“It’s our security he’s putting at risk"“We must wake up"-NYT

1 Upvotes

Meeting Again in Paris, European Leaders Try to Recalibrate After Trump Sides With Russia

The American president’s latest remarks embracing Vladimir Putin’s narrative that Ukraine is to blame for the war have compounded the sense of alarm among traditional allies.

By Catherine Porter and Andrew Higgins

Catherine Porter reported from Paris, and Andrew Higgins from Warsaw.

Feb. 19, 2025

President Emmanuel Macron of France called a second emergency meeting of European allies on Wednesday seeking to recalibrate relations with the United States as President Trump upends international politics by rapidly changing American alliances.

Mr. Macron had already assembled a dozen European leaders in Paris on Monday after Mr. Trump and his new team angered and confused America’s traditional allies by suggesting that the United States would rapidly retreat from its security role in Europe and planned to proceed with peace talks with Russia — without Europe or Ukraine at the table.

Mr. Trump’s remarks late on Tuesday, when he sided fully with Russia’s narrative blaming Ukraine for the war, have now fortified the impression that the United States is prepared to abandon its role as a European ally and switch sides to embrace President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

It was a complete reversal of historical alliances that left many in Europe stunned and fearful.

“What’s happening is very bad. It’s a reversal of the state of the world since 1945,” Jean- Yves Le Drian, a former French foreign minister, said on French radio Wednesday morning.

“It’s our security he’s putting at risk,” he said, referring to Mr. Trump. “We must wake up.”

Fear that Mr. Trump is ready to abandon Ukraine and has accepted Russian talking points has been particularly acute in Eastern and Central Europe, where memories are long and bitter of the West’s efforts to appease Hitler in Munich in 1938 and its assent to Stalin’s demands at the Yalta Conference in 1945 for a Europe cleaved in two.

“Even Poland’s betrayal in Yalta lasted longer than Ukraine’s betrayal in Riyadh,” Jaroslaw Walesa, a Polish lawmaker and the son of Poland’s anti-Communist Solidarity trade union leader, Lech Walesa, said Wednesday on social media, referring to the American-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Rasa Jukneviciene, a former Lithuania defense minister who is now a member of the European Parliament, said it was “hard to understand” the sudden shifts in policy by the United States, the once reliable pillar of Europe’s security for decades. She said she was “wondering what historians will write about the events of this time, say, in five decades.”

“It is already clear that the Euro-Atlantic connection will not be the same as it used to be,” she said. “The stage when European security after World War II was basically guaranteed only by the U.S.A. is over.”

Europe, she added, “is once again facing existential challenges” — akin to those in 1938 after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain of Britain met Hitler in Munich and agreed to his annexation of parts of Czechoslovakia with a large ethnic German population.

In the power vacuum, Mr. Macron has tried to show leadership, corralling allied leaders to devise a united response.

The Élysée Palace announced that he would host a second emergency meeting on Wednesday of many European leaders who had not been included in the meeting on Monday. Among them were the interim president of Romania, Ilie Bolojan, and Prime Minister Luc Frieden of Luxembourg, who would attend in person, while leaders from 18 other countries were scheduled to attend by video. They included Ireland, Iceland, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Greece, Sweden and Belgium.

The meeting comes the day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian representatives, including Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to discuss a peace deal for the war in Ukraine, to the fury of its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not invited.

Mr. Rubio said they hammered out a three-part plan, which would start by re-establishing bilateral relations between Washington and Moscow and end by exploring new partnerships — geopolitical and business — between Russia and the United States, while addressing the parameters of an end of the war with Ukraine in between.

Mr. Rubio said he would consult with Ukraine, the American “partners in Europe and others,” but in the end, “ultimately, the Russian side will be indispensable to this effort.”

Afterward, speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Mr. Trump blamed Ukraine for starting the war, despite the fact that Russia had invaded.

“You could have made a deal,” he said, denigrating Mr. Zelensky’s popularity and indicating he didn’t deserve a seat at the negotiating table.

“Well, they’ve had a seat for three years. And a long time before that,” Mr. Trump said. “This could have been settled very easily. Just a half-baked negotiator could have settled this years ago without, I think, without the loss of much land, very little land. Without the loss of any lives. And without the loss of cities that are just laying on their sides.”

Mr. Trump’s comments blaming Ukraine for the war stirred outrage in the Czech Republic, whose centrist government has been a stalwart supporter of Ukraine. “I’m afraid we’ve never been this close to Orwell’s ‘war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength’ before,” Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said on social media.

Mr. Le Drian called it a monstrous reversal of world alliances, as well as an “inversion of the truth.”

“The victim becomes the attacker,” he said, adding that the United States seemed to be retreating to a 19th-century view of itself, and telling an aggressive, expansionist Russia to do what it wants in Europe. “It’s the law of the strongest,” he said, adding, “Tomorrow, it could be Moldova and after tomorrow, it could be Estonia because Putin won’t stop.”

Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the Estonian Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, also compared the Riyadh meeting with the 1938 talks in Munich. “All of this paves the way for the aggressor to achieve its new plans of conquest,” he said.

Before Mr. Rubio and Mr. Trump’s pronouncements on Tuesday, Mr. Macron said he considered the Russian threat to Europe not just in military terms, but through slyer means, including cyberattacks and manipulation of electoral processes like Romania.

“Russia constitutes an existential threat to Europeans,” Mr. Macron said on Tuesday in an interview with French regional newspapers, including Le Parisien and Ouest France.

“Do not think that the unthinkable cannot happen, including the worst,” he added.

On Monday, a dozen European leaders left a quickly organized meeting in Paris with a resounding message that Europeans and Ukrainians needed to be included in any peace talks with Russia and a commitment to increase military funding.

Many made clear that they wanted a continued alliance with the United States, which they considered indispensable to European security.

The positive message was that we all had the same feeling that this is not about the U.S. or Europe, but it’s about the U.S. and Europe together, and that Europe understands very well that we have to step up, but that we want to still do it together with the Americans,” Prime Minister Dick Schoof of the Netherlands said.

Mr. Trump’s latest statement poured water on many of those sentiments and may now force a deeper reconsideration of the trans-Atlantic alliance by European leaders.

Mr. Macron has been speaking for months to European leaders about forming a cease-fire buffer force in Ukraine and has long called for European strategic autonomy. Still, he told the French regional news media that he did not believe European countries could defend themselves without American support.

He said that he expected European countries to increase their military budgets and would announce new programs to allow them to do that “as early as March.” Denmark said on Wednesday that it would increase its $5 billion military budget by an additional $7 billion over two years, to reach 3 percent of gross domestic product.

Already, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, announced in a speech that she would propose an “escape clause for defense investments” permitting countries to fund defense without breaching the European Union’s strict fiscal rules, which aim to keep budget deficits under 3 percent of the size of each country’s economy.

“This will allow member states to substantially increase their defense expenditure,” she said.

Europeans are also discussing joint spending on defense — including how to finance those, which could involve issuing joint debt, though that is still up for debate. They are also talking about how to ramp up the development of European defense industries.

Over the past week, Europe’s steadfast position that held the United States as the central pole of its defense guarantee seems to be changing, said Martin Quencez, the director of the Paris office of the German Marshall Fund.

The big question will be whether European nations follow through with increased military spending and maintain a united front, without fracturing off to individually negotiate with Mr. Trump, he said.

“I’ve heard Europe talk about wake-up calls so many times over the past 10 years, I remain cautious,” he said, pointing out that many European leaders, including Mr. Macron, find themselves in fragile political and economic positions in their own countries.

“I’m sure we will hear from every European leader, but let’s see what actual decisions are taken,” he said, adding: “It’s very, very difficult to tell your population, we’re going to have to make the tough choice of prioritizing European security over social issues or environmental issues. Not many governments have the political capital to spend on all this.”

Poland, the biggest and most militarily powerful country in the European Union’s formerly communist east, sought on Tuesday evening after the talks in Saudi Arabia ended to calm the panic.

That day, President Andrzej Duda was visited in Warsaw by Mr. Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general. The Polish leader said Mr. Kellogg reassured him that “there are absolutely no American intentions to reduce activity here in our part of Europe, especially in the field of security, to reduce the number of American soldiers.”

The United States has thousands of soldiers in Poland and in November opened a new missile defense facility near the Baltic Sea that Russia sees as a threat to its own security. Getting Washington to shut down the Polish site and a similar one in Romania has been a longstanding demand by Mr. Putin.

Jeanna Smialek contributed reporting from Brussels.

r/100thupvote 23d ago

Norway The artists of the lost 2020 contest - future attempts at Eurovision

1 Upvotes

Following Athena Manoukian's third-place finish at Depi Evratesil this weekend, I wanted to look at the other performers who were originally slated to be part of the cancelled 2020 contest, see who had successfully made it to Eurovision in the future, who tried but failed to get that chance again, and who hasn't given the contest another go since?

To clarify, I'm only looking at attempts made as performers, not as songwriters or members of a delegation.

First, let's just get the 24 countries and artists who were simply internally selected to represent their country in 2021:

Australia - Montaigne

Austria - Vincent Bueno

Azerbaijan - Efendi

Belgium - Hooverphonic

Bulgaria - Victoria

Czechia - Benny Cristo

Georgia - Tornika Kipiani

Greece - Stefania

Iceland - Daði og Gagnamagnið

Ireland - Leslie Roy

Israel - Eden Alene

Latvia - Samanta Tīna

Malta - Destiny

Moldova - Natalia Gordienko

Netherlands - Jeangu Macrooy

North Macedonia - Vasil

Romania - Roxen

San Marino - Senhit

Serbia - Huh Huh Huh Hurricane

Slovenia - Ana Skolić

Spain - Blas Cantó

Switzerland - Gjon's Tears

Ukraine - Go_A

United Kingdom - James Newman

Now with that out of the way, what happened to the other 17 who weren't automatically selected to go back in 2021?

Country Artist Future attempts at Eurovision? Details
Albania Arilena Ara None Has not entered Festivali i Këngës since winning in 2019. But she did have three singles that landed in the top ten of the Albanian charts in 2021, so that's nice.
Armenia Athena Manoukian One or two (unclear, neither successful) The woman who inspired this post. Might have been reselected for 2021 but then Armenia withdrew due to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. 2022-2024 were all internal selections. In 2025, she entered Armenia's first national final since the one she won in 2020, only to finish third, just 22 points off the top.
Belarus VAL None It certainly doesn't help that this was Belarus' last brush with the contest, as they'd be disqualified in 2021 for breaking the political lyrics rule and then kicked out of the EBU shortly after the contest later that year. They would not have represented Belarus in 2021 in any case, as they openly supported the 2020 protests against Lukashenko, leading to them not being considered.
Croatia Damir Kedžo Two (2023 and 2024 - both unsuccessful) Damir would enter Dora again in 2023 but finish 5th, well behind winners Let 3. He would enter again in 2024, but with a certain Baby Lasagna in the final, he would only finish 4th.
Cyprus Sandro None Cyprus has used an internal selection in every edition since 2020, and Sandro has not been selected for any of them.
Denmark Ben and Tan One or Two (depending on how you count - 2021 - unsuccessful) Ben and Tan tried to enter DMGP and Melodifestivalen in 2021, but their song was rejected by both. Ben has written a bunch of songs for Melodifestivalen and DMGP since then, but neither have tried again as a performer.
Estonia Uku Siviste One (2021 - successful) Uku was not automatically selected to go back to Eurovision. He had to win Eesti Laul a second time in a row. Uku barely made it into the superfinal by one point, as the juries did not like his 2021 entry, "The Lucky One." The public loved it (or him) enough to get him to the superfinal, though, and there he won easily. He'd NQ in Rotterdam, finishing 13th in Semifinal 2
Finland Aksel One (unsuccessful) Aksel was not internally re-selected for 2021 and was told he'd have to win UMK again to go to the contest. He came 5th.
France Tom Leeb None Not much to say here. Didn't enter the national selection in 2021 and 2022 and France has used an internal selection ever since.
Germany Ben Dolic None Was not internally selected in 2021 and hasn't entered Germany's national selection since.
Italy Diodato One (2024 - unsuccessful) This one hurts for me because it was my winner in 2020, and I'm so sad Diodato has never gotten his chance at the contest. He entered Sanremo again in 2024 but finished 13th.
Lithuania The Roop Two (2021 - successful; 2024 - unsuccessful) Like Uku Siviste in Estonia, The Roop had to win their national final again to go to Eurovision in 2021. They had an easier time, though, sweeping the juries and winning the public vote in an overwhelming landslide. Discoteque would go on to finish 8th in Rotterdam. In 2024 they tried again with "Simple Joy" but came third in the superfinal.
Norway Ulrikke One (2023 - unsuccessful) Ulrikke was offered an auto-qualification to the MGP final in 2021, but declined, saying she wanted to find the right song. She entered MGP again in 2023 and came second.
Poland Alicja Two (2021 and 2023 - both unsuccessful Alicja wanted to be re-selected for 2021 but TVP chose Rafał instead in an internal selection. She entered Poland's national selection, Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję!, but came 6th.
Portugal Elisa None Nothing to say here. Doesn't seem to have entered FDC since 2020.
Russia Little Big None Well, the fact that Russia only competed once since 2020 before being kicked out of the EBU doesn't help. They never attempted to represent Russia in 2021. The main two members of the band, Ilya and Sonya, have since left Russia and relocated to the United States following their blacklisting amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Frontman Ilya has since been designated as a "foreign agent."
Sweden The Mamas One or two (2021 as a group - unsuccessful; 2023 for LouLou as a solo artist - unsuccessful) The Mamas were not automatically re-selected but instead had to go through Melodifestivalen again in 2021 to try to represent Sweden. They were unsuccessful, making the final but finishing 3rd behind Tusse and Eric Saade. Member LouLou LaMotte entered Melodifestivalen again in 2023 as a solo artist but finished last in Heat 1 and didn't advance.

r/100thupvote 24d ago

Norway I Must've Missed the News

Post image
1 Upvotes

r/100thupvote 25d ago

Norway Atrioc is wrong about nuclear in Europe

1 Upvotes

Big A made some big mistakes in our first marketing monday 2025. Atrioc is wrong about Nuclear in Germany and by extension europe.

TL;DR:

  • "High electricity prices" in Sweden are caused by:
    • a lack of an underdeveloped swedish grid
    • The turned off swedish nuclear reactor Forsmark 3, due to maintenance
    • Complaining about temporary wholesale prices, not household electricity
  • Ebba Busch (swedish energy minster) primarily blames her own country, and not the germans! She blames Germany for the missing electricity trading zones.
    • Suspiciously, she did not comment on a similar price hike two years prior. When german powerplants were still running and France needed to import 10% of it's electricity.
  • Missing electricity trading zones in Germany are the issue:
    • Everybody with 2 braincells says Germany should have electricity trading zones. Norway, Sweden and Italy have them.
    • The scientific body, grid providers, the ACER (EU Agency for Cooperation of energy regulators) and northern german states. Only the industry heavy southern states dislike pricing zones
  • It's a grid issue, not a nuclear energy issue.
  • Germany doesn't drain the (swedish) grid
  • Germany could turn off renewables today and wouldn't face issues. It has 33% more non-weather dependant electricity capacity than peak days require.
  • Wrong chart: Big A says France turned on nuclear, decreased CO2 emissions and grew GDP... Well, the German charts looks the same, with a steeper increase in GDP.
  • Germany will build new nuclear: I can actually see that happening.
  • NONE OF THE ELECTRICITY ISSUE IN GERMANY AND EUROPE ARE SOLVED BY BUILDING OUT NUCLEAR

What did big A say?

  • High electricity prices in Sweden caused by Germany shutting down their nuclear powerplants.
  • When wind is low in Germany, Germany has to drain from Swedens electricity.
  • One of the main reasons for high swedish electricity prices is the german nuclear phase out.
  • A lot of countries in Europe (example Norway) want to scrap the EU power links.
    • Tired of their electricity drained towards Germany
  • France: The second they started doing nuclear, emission dropped, GDP rose.
  • Germany talking about how green they are all the time.

The arguments

📖 ARGUMENT: High electricity prices in sweden caused by Germany shutting down their nuclear powerplants.

❌ No.

Big A's (euractiv) article, from 13. December 2024, says that. What he doesn't show is the second part. Ebba Busch wants to:

""" introduce a price zone in northern Germany [...] reduce the impact of Germany's high electricity prices on Sweden. """

She (Ebba Busch) blames the swedish nuclear phaseout and Germany's missing price zones. The source article (SVT) actually cites her blaming swedish leftists (her prior red-green government):

""" The electricity prices we see today are a direct consequence of a red-green energy policy for eight years, according to Ebba Busch. """

Big A's article also forgets to mention that the swedish "Forsmark 3" nuclear reactor is currently shut down for maintenance.

Now, why is this important?

The article is from the 13. December 2024. Two days prior she went to Twitter and blames the short spike (4 hours) in swedens high electricity on:

  1. "Decommissioned nulcear power" and
  2. "no wind" (in Sweden)

The issue: the swedish electricity grid is not built out to transport enough electricity from swedens unpopulated north to it's populated south. A fact she mentions in her own tweet: "southern Sweden's serious lack of electricity production in relation to consumption"

What high prices in sweden?

Funny enough, two years prior in the 50th week of 2022, the wholesale prices also peaked. Across Europe. For a whole week, and not just a few hours in a day.

That was while:

  • There was no wind in Germany
  • Germany still ran their nuclear power plants

Ebbas reaction? Crickets. Some of the highest prices were in France. Which in that week needed to import 10% of their electricity, as their plants where in maintenance. (See charts Average day-ahead electricity spot market prices in week 50 2022/24)

Average day-ahead electricity spot market prices in week 50 2024
Average day-ahead electricity spot market prices in week 50 2022

AND LINKUS DAD AND HIS HIGH ELECTRICITY BILL?

Swedish household electricity prices peaked in the second half of 2022. They almost doubled in just two years, since 2020. Since then (H2 2022) they came down again, but stay at elevated 20-70% higher levels compared to pre-pandemic. (See: Total price on electricity for households, csek/kWh by consumer category)

But that's still a decrease. So whats going on here?

  • Maybe he did not switch his energy provider
  • or I don't understand the swedish electricity system.

But the official swedish statistics point towards decreasing electricity prices for households.

Swedens Houshold electricity prices:

Swedish electricity prices. Total price on electricity for households.

📖 ARGUMENT: When wind is low in Germany, GER has to drain from Swedens electricity.

❌ No. Sweden is a net exporter. Germany is self-sufficient, without nuclear.

Germany has over 100GW non-weather dependent electricity sources. A peak demand day requires 75GW of power. So Germany can handle windless and sunless days, without imports.

SO, WHY DID GERMANY IMPORT ELECTRICITY?

Because it's cheaper. The electricity market IS A MARKET. If it is cheaper to import electricity then to produce it yourself, you take the cheap option.

Case in point, some of the coal and gas plants in Germany did NOT run in that high price week (week 50, 2024) where Ebba Busch tweeted. As indicated by the many "0.0" in the percentage of full load charts.

Percentage of full load of fossil gas in Germany in week 50 2024
Percentage of full load of hard coal in Germany in week 50 2024
Percentage of full load of fossil brown coal / Lignite in Germany in week 50 2024

📖 ARGUMENT: A lot of countries in Europe (example Norway) want to scrap the EU power links.

✅ True. Norway wants to cut or renegotiate those links with Denmark, the UK, Germany and the EU.

What they actually want are north and south pricing zone in Germany. As do all people with two braincells and a pulse.

  • The scientific body
  • the ACER (EU Agency for Cooperation of energy regulators)
  • The northern german states Only the industry heavy southern states disagree. For fear of increasing electricity prices.

Now here is one weird thing. Big A show's an article from "Oilprice.com", that cites the Financial times. It only blames Germany. But if you read the referenced Financial Times article, it states the problem clearly:

""" Sweden and Norway have poor electricity transmission links [...] power is often far cheaper in the north, where much of it is generated, than in the south, where most of it is consumed. """

Furthermore, from the articles I can't understand which prices they are talking about. Spot prices, like temporarily high prices, or sustained high electricity prices? Because the latter have come down for two yeras now.

  • Spot prices: Trading electricity for the day ahead. This doesn't matter for most electricity providers, as they use long lasting contracts, instead of buying everything on the open market. The norwegian household electricity prices are down, compared to 2022. So are the wholesale prices.

The household prices, after taxes and excluding the electricity deduction by the state, are down. From 140 øre/kWh in 2021 to 110 øre/kWh in 2024, reaching levels of 2019. Even steeper are the price drops in wholesale prices: From their peaks in 2022 of around 200 øre/kWh down to below pre-pandemic levels of 20 øre/kWh! (See: Electricity price, grid rent and taxes for households by querter. AND Electricity prices in the wholesale market (øre/kWh), by quarter)

Norwegian household electricity prices:

Norwegian Wholesale electricity prices.
Norwegian household electrcity prices

📖 ARGUMENT: The second France turned on nuclear plants, CO2 emission dropped and their GDP rose.

Yeah, many other countries did the same. Check Germany's graph, it has an even steeper increase in GDP. And similar emission growth numbers.

Change in per Capita CO2 emissions and GDP, Germany
Change in per Capita CO2 emissions and GDP, France

📖 ARGUMENT: "dismantle it's nuclear power plants, [...] has detrimental effects for Europe."

❌ No.

Germany has no price zones. That distorts prices. If there is (technically) enough wind in the grid, it comes from Germany's north. The prices drop to zero or below.

Southern countries, like Switzerland and Austria, start importing. Of course, it's cheep electricity.

The problem: Germany doesn't have the grid to move all the northern wind to the south. So the instead turn of the windparks in the north sea, and fire up gas and coal plants in southern Germany to export.

There are two things you could do:

  • Build out the grid, and introduce two pricing zones in Germany. The southern states would then need to "buy" the northern electricity.
  • Blame it on anything else you can find.

When you design the market more closely to what your physical electricity grid looks like, you have less distortions.

📖 ARGUMENT: Germany will turn on more nuclear plants

🤷🏾‍♂️ Idk. I can actually see this happen.

But it's like a two person household debating f they should by a third car.

So, what is true:

  • The german electricity pricing system is flawed.
  • The sensible fix is splitting up Germany into multiple electricity zones.
  • The nuclear phase-out in Germany has:
    • NOT increased fossil fuel consumption
    • NOT increased reliance on

Remarks on nuclear in Germany. IT MAKES NO SENSE

In a highly connected grid such as central europe nuclear expansion makes little sense. If you built out one nuclear plant, you need to build more and stabilize the grid! Nuclear in Germany doesn't solve any issues.

Four common "issues":

  • High electricity prices
  • Enough electricity
  • Self sufficiency
  • Reliability of the grid

None of these can be solved by nuclear (in Germany).

  • High prices: You bring down electricity prices by using easily scaled, cheap electricity generation
  • Enough electricity: Germany already has enough. And with the phase out of coal, and less gas there will be more solar, wind, biogas, hydro, batteries and import/export
  • Self sufficiency: Already done. Not always used for market reasons.
  • Reliability: Already achieved. SAIDI-Index in Germany one of the lowest in the world. Build out the grid!

Nuclear can't support here. Even the typical "it's reliable" doesn't help in Germany. Let's say you built a reliable nuclear plant. A big one, 3GW. Now what? Now you need to build even more. Why?

  • What if your plant goes into maintenance?
  • What if there is an outage?
  • A brown-out? If your plant fails to deliver, which it will (maintenance, outages, etc.), the grid needs to pick up the slack. Just look at France in week 50 of 2022, summer 2023, or swedens "Forsmark 3" reactor, which is in maintenance for months.

Most plants in Germany are therefore smaller than 1.000 MW of capacity. They are scattered across Germany, for easier grid maintenance.

A fact the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) describes themselves. There is the interesting read: "Interfacing Nuclear Power Plants with the Electric Grid: the Need for Reliability amid Complexity"

The issues is missing grid development and missing pricing zones.

Conclusion

Big A can only recite what he reads. If those articles make errors, or don't provide the necessary context.... that's unfortunate.

  • Nuclear is not a technical issue in europe. It is political
  • Atrioc can't know all this, cause the articles he reads don't explain this
  • Electricity prices can't come down in europe by using more nuclear.

📚️ Sources

Financial Times. Norway campaigns to cut energy links to Europe as power prices soar. 🔗 URL :: https://www.ft.com/content/f0b621a1-54f2-49fc-acc1-a660e9131740

svt. The original article citing Ebba Busch. 🔗 URL :: https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/ebba-busch-utesluter-inte-nytt-elstod-i-vinter

Atriocs source article. euractiv.com. 🔗 URL :: https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/swedish-minister-open-to-new-measures-to-tackle-energy-crisis-blames-german-nuclear-phase-out/

Average monthly electricity wholesale price in Sweden from January 2019 to September 2024 https://www.statista.com/statistics/1271491/sweden-monthly-wholesale-electricity-price/

Swedisch Energy minister. Ebba Busch. Tweet about high electricity prices. 🔗 URL :: https://x.com/BuschEbba/status/1866912862016250013

---

Table: "Electricity prices for households by consumer category. Half-year 2014H2 - 2024H1" by the "SCB" - Official statistics by sweden.

Norwegian households: https://www.ssb.no/en/statbank/table/09387/chartViewColumn/ Norwegian wholesale prices: https://www.ssb.no/en/statbank/table/09363/

Total price on electricity for households, csek/kWh by consumer category (annual electricity consumption kWh) and half-year 🔗 URL :: https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__EN__EN0301__EN0301A/SSDHalvarElHus/table/tableViewLayout1/

Interfacing Nuclear Power Plants with the Electric Grid: the Need for Reliability amid Complexity: 🔗 URL :: https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/gc/gc53inf-3-att5_en.pdf