Norway

What a tragedy that has occurred in Norway, all because someone sees no value in "multiculturalism," a word that is defined also by religious tolerance and racial equality. This makes me reflect upon our own country and some of the racial comments I encounter from individuals and the divisive rhetoric I hear on our airways. Fortunately, we are a country founded on the principles of equality for all, and these rights are protected by our Constitution and enforced by the court of law. It has taken time to assimilate the many ethnic groups within our society and right the wrongs (some by war)

SUNDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS MLB Yankees@Mets TBS1 Orioles@Atlanta MASN, 131:30 Pittsburgh@Washington MASN21:30 White Sox@Cubs WGN-A2 Pittsburgh@Washington (T) MASN5 Dodgers@Angels ESPN8 Orioles@Atlanta (T) MASN11:30 WNBA Seattle@Washington CSN4 Cycling Tour de France: Stage 2 VS.8 a.m. Tour de France: Stage 2 (T)

At the end of its seafaring days, the former S.S. France, which had been described as the "paradigm of elegance, style and speed" and had been transformed into the cruise ship Norway and finally the Blue Lady, was towed in 2006 to the Indian port of Alang, south of Mumbai. Here the tug dropped the great ship with the distinctive winged funnels in the shallows, where it waited with the other doomed liners for teams of scrappers to perform their ugly handiwork. "The imminent death of a beloved ship triggers regret, and Blue Lady-ex-Norway-ex-France proved no exception," writes John Maxtone-Graham in his recently published book, "France/Norway.

This week, I am traveling around the part of Norway you see in the travel brochures - the fjords with picturesque villages on the shores, forested mountains with thousand-foot waterfalls coursing down the precipices, old wooden fishing boats anchored in the harbor, old churches. An American walks around and wonders, "Where are the auto salvage yards, the strip malls, the golden arches?" This is a country that believes in zoning and government regulation. Government trolls will not allow you to open up a Mr. Donut drive-in unless you disguise it as a shop.

OSLO, NORWAY -- All in all, these are good times in this Scandinavian capital. The Scream, Norway's best-known painting -- stolen in 2004 -- is back home in the Munch Museum. Today, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony will take place at City Hall. And thanks to oil, which was discovered in the North Sea in the 1970s, Norway projects a state budget surplus of $59 billion for next year. On a recent visit to Oslo, I found a vibrant city of interesting contradictions and surprises. For instance, it's a mistake to think of it as a homogenous city of blond, blue-eyed Nordics.

DR. LAWRENCE C. KOLB, 95 Mental health researcher Dr. Lawrence C. Kolb, a prominent mental health administrator and researcher who helped create the community mental health movement and became the public face of psychiatry for a generation of New Yorkers, died in his sleep Oct. 20 in Orlando, Fla. He was born in Baltimore and completed his medical studies at the Johns Hopkins University in 1934. His long public career began, and ended, with two influential studies of psychological suffering.

SESTRIERE BORGATA, Italy -- The surprise winner of yesterday's super-giant slalom conducted his post-race news conference in perfect English and could boast this day of being "best in the world." It wasn't an American hanging gold around his neck, though, it was Norway's Kjetil Andre Aamodt, a Thor-like throwback who skied away a winner despite whispers shortly after he had arrived that he slightly resembled a plow horse. Balding, aging and out of breath has never been a recipe for winning gold in alpine skiing, but there has never been anyone quite like the 34-year-old Aamodt.

Medals table Nation G S B Tot Norway 1 6 6 13 Russia 5 2 4 11 Germany 5 4 1 10 United States 6 2 1 9 Canada 1 3 4 8 Austria 3 2 1 6 China 1 2 3 6 Italy 2 0 3 5 Finland 0 2 3 5 Sweden 2 1 1 4 France 2 0 2 4 Netherlands 1 2 1 4 Switzerland 1 2 1 4 South Korea 1 1 1 3 Estonia 2 0 0 2 Australia 1 0 0 1 Britain 0 1 0 1 Bulgaria 0 1 0 1 Croatia 0 1 0 1 Czech Republic 0 1 0 1 Slovakia 0 1 0 1 Latvia 0 0 1 1 Ukraine 0 0 1 1 Yesterday ...

TURIN, Italy -- After being one of the cult favorites of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, the U.S. men's curling team opened round-robin competition yesterday with an 11-5 victory over defending Olympic champion Norway in the opening match of the day. "[Norway's] a good, strong team, and they're going to win a lot of games over the week," said U.S. team member Scott Baird, 54, the oldest Olympian here. "We were fortunate to get out of this with a win. Everybody wants to get on an early roll."