– Bravo.
– Norway has amassed a fortune of 300 billion dollars over the last decade. Only Saudi Arabia and Russia have larger oil exports. The Scandanavian countries have, in my opinion, been leading by example for a long time in many areas. Now Norway has decided to use the huge clout of their wealth to influence the world by how and where they invest. Bravo, is all I have to say. Bravo.
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Norway Keeps Nest Egg From Some U.S. Companies
OSLO — For a people whose deep national pride is in bestowing the Nobel Peace Prize, Norwegians are developing a reputation for throwing some sharp elbows.
And they are doing so in an unexpected way: by pulling investments out of Wal-Mart and other big companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin for what they say are ethical failings.
Norway has amassed a fortune of more than $300 billion over the last decade, thanks to its profits from oil exports. Yet few countries are more ambivalent about their vast wealth than this modest, socially conscious society of less than five million people.
So rather than managing their monstrous nest egg simply for the best returns, the reluctant billionaires of Norway are using the money to advance an ambitious ethical code they established in 2004 for their oil reserve, known as the Government Pension Fund.
Norway’s investment choices have become a focus of attention in the last nine months over the exclusion of Wal-Mart, the American retailer whose big-box stores do not exist in this pristine country.
Public pension funds on both sides of the Atlantic commonly avoid investing in certain companies on social or ethical grounds. But it is rare for a sovereign state to make such judgments, and rarer still for one to do it in the pointed, public way that Norway has.
Among the first companies to run afoul of Norway’s standards were makers of cluster bombs and nuclear weapons or related components — a list that includes General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman, in addition to Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Then last June, Norway added Wal-Mart Stores to its blacklist, alleging that the retailer was guilty of tolerating child-labor violations by its suppliers in the developing world and obstructing unions at home. The fund sold off more than $400 million worth of Wal-Mart shares.
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– This article is from the NY Times and they insist that folks have an ID and a PW in order to read their stuff. You can get these for free just by signing up. However, recently, a friend of mine suggested the website bugmenot.com 
as an alternative to having to do these annoying sign ups. Check it out. Thx Bruce S. for the tip.