Sweden on top

"Sweden best at immigration

EU. Sweden does most to help immigrants to settle down, Latvia least. It is shown by EU-funded research. 140 factors, among them rights in the working life, possibilities to permanent settlement, possibilities for families to reunite with them and laws that fight racism and prejudices."

/TT

Considering how many people DON'T get these rights satisfied and are treated badly by so many, both by public authorities and by people in general...I don't even want to think how it must be in all the other European countries if Sweden is the best!

"Boa Sorte / Good Luck"

Vanessa da Mata & Ben Harper

Never heard of her (nor him) before but when I heard this song I just liked it a lot from the very beginning...then I couldn't stop listening to it.

É só isso
Não tem mais jeito
Acabou, boa sorte

Não tenho o que dizer
São só palavras
E o que eu sinto
Não mudará

Tudo o que quer me dar
É demais
É pesado
Não há paz

Tudo o que quer de mim
Irreais
Expectativas
Desleais

That’s it
There is no way
It over, Good luck

I have nothing left to say
It’s only words
And what I feel
Won’t change

Tudo o que quer me dar / Everything you want to give me
É demais / It´s too much
É pesado/ It’s heavy
Não há paz / There is no peace

Tudo o que quer de mim / All you want from me
Irreais / Isn´t real
Expectativas / Expectations
Desleais

Mesmo, se segure
Quero que se cure
Dessa pessoa
Que o aconselha

Há um desencontro
Veja por esse ponto
Há tantas pessoas especiais

Now even if you hold yourself
I want you to get cured
From this person
Who poisoned you

There is a disconnection
See through this point of view
There are so many special people in the world
So many special people in the world
In the world
All you want
All you want

Now were Falling into the night
Um bom encontro é de dois

The magic world of books

Have you ever felt abandoned by a book? I feel kind of abandoned every time I finish reading a book. It leaves this void behind because I've been in it's world, followed the story, the thoughts of the author and felt the story. And then nothing. It kicks me out and leave a sense of wanting more. All I can do is to get up from my bed or chair and do something else, in this case blogging about the feeling. Still missing the world I just visited.

I know people who never read and/or don't like/want to. In a way it makes me sad because I feel that the miss out on such adventures both when it comes to the stories told and the thoughts the books creates in your mind. Sometimes you might have thoughts but they are rather transparent and you don't seem to be able to put words to them. All the sudden you can read a single line in a book and feel like something is saying it for you or simply reminding you of something obvious as well as it might have been hidden from you. Imagine how many people miss out on that!

Sleepy

In my sofa.

Bike parking forbidden

Mahnamahna, a classic

Something to cheer me up. I just love this, it is as wonderful as it is pink.

No more organ harvesting?

"Executes Organs Stays In the Family

China. China will no longer transplant organs from executed prisoners except to their closest relatives, states the Chinese state medias. International human rights groups have during a long time accused China to take care of organs from executed prisoners for transplantation without consent. Hospitals has also been accused of secretly take organs from traffic victims and other deceased patients without informing the families. The government has rejected the allegations and has said that most of the organs have been donated with consent by regular citizens and by executed prisoners who have given their consent before dying."

TT

There is just this tiny thing to remember...many Chines have the belief that the body shall stay intact when buried = organ donations aren't the first thing a Chines thinks of before dying. There are a lot to be said about this question of China and organ transplants. It is as fishy as a fish farm. I know one thing though and that is only time can tell whether the Chinese government will make sure the new law will be implemented. I wouldn't get my hopes up too much...

The pic is from here.

"Don't Hate On Me"

by Vincent. I have liked this song since the first time I heard it. It a song that I've had on my short repeat list on my mobile, the list of songs that I especially like. Lyrics.

Not in Swedish stores

Another thing that happened today but on the train. The girl sitting infront of me had a bag/purse that I liked and since I have had so much trouble finding one that I like (the fashion right now is so ugly with all these stuff on them, no elegance what so ever) I did what I do sometimes. I asked. "Excuse me, where did you buy the bag?" but she only smiled a little and explained to me in English that she doesn't speak Swedish. Crap! I asked again, in English, "You didn't buy that bag around here did you?" and her obvious answer was no. It is always annoying every time you ask someone who turns out not to be from here since they of course have bought most of their things far, far away. Once I asked a girl about her jacket buy the had bought it in Turkey.

Girl or a guy?

Why is it so important to know? I was sitting on a bus today and there were two girls (pretty and probably in their 20ies) sitting on the other side of the lane, talking to each other. I didn't think about it until I could hear one of the girl's voice through the music in my ears. She sounded like a guy. I took out the earphones and continued to listen to her voice but it kept sounding like a male voice, despite her very feminine facial looks (couldn't tell much from the way she dressed) and half long, blond, straight hair. It doesn't matter but still I wondered. How stupid and waste of energy. Hm.

"Sound and Fury"

I can recommend this documentary. It's good and disturbing.

"SOUND AND FURY documents one family's struggle over whether or not to provide two deaf children with cochlear implants, devices that can stimulate hearing."

"SOUND AND FURY was a 2001 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature."

...and I can see why.

Men v/s women?

= Okej, you are right!

The way I am...a hamster

I figured it out...I know what animal I am. Not that I even like this animal, it goes in the category "boring animals" according to me, together with eg. rabbits. I am talking about the hamster. Two similarities: the gathering of stuff (I am going through my closet) and the cheeks.

A smile in traffic

Another youtube thing to watch if you want to smile. People have nice ideas sometimes... You'll see.

Wishing list

This is what I have come up. My sister actually asked me some time ago and here is the answer...

Solcellsladdare

Skohylla (den vita!)

Klädhylla (den vita!)

Nageltorkare

Tekopp (stooor, med öron & snygg)

Öronmuffar (svarta)

Hårpinnar (annorlunda)

Fjärrkontroll till TV

Bättre högtalare till datorn

...and then the are the expensive stuff that I will have to buy myself...when there will be a reasonable income. Whenever that is :-S Things like a good digital camera and later on a system camera and of course a lap top, a boring thing like a new water pump to my aquarium...and a boxing bag (I have to much energy etc. that wouldn't be good for my walls).

Why the liberals are on the wrong track about schools

VERY INTERSTING ABOUT WHY CORPORAL PUNISHMENT DOES NOT WORK...to bad it's just in Swedish :-( I recommend to see the repeat about it or check it out directly on the Internet. Maybe I'll write more about this another time, I am just too upset to do it now. It makes me feel so frustrated when people are so simple minded and refuse to learn from "history".

http://www.svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=67816&a=969835&lid=puff_973546&lpos=lasMer

Sändningstider Dokument inifrån: Syndabockarna

SVT2 Söndag 18 nov 2007 kl 20.00

SVT2 Torsdag 22 nov 2007 kl 15.55

SVT2 Lördag 24 nov 2007 kl 16.25

SVT24 Lördag 24 nov 2007 kl 19.55

SVT HD Lördag 24 nov 2007 kl 19.55

"Syndabockarna

Skolminister Jan Björklund tycker att han har bevis för att det krävs hårdare tag i skolan. Men hur skärper man straffet för ett barn som redan fått det strängaste straffet?

Mazen, som har jobbat i skolan, säger att skolan inte kan disciplinera de stökiga barnen genom att sätta hårt mot hårt.

Lärarna kan ändå aldrig matcha föräldrarnas straff och det leder till att barnen lyder hemma, men struntar i vad lärarna säger i skolan, säger han.

Dokumentärfilmaren Evin Rubar har träffat barnen som med våld och skadegörelse stängde sin skola. Det var de som blev skolministerns bevis för att det krävs hårdare tag i skolan."

Marriage

I am sorry but sometimes I find interesting things in Swedish and I can't translate everything even if I'd like to. I know by experience how frustrating it can be when not understanding what is said but...

This is a reply to a conservative person who argues that straight marriges => happy children etc. and that it therefor should only exist such marriages, referring to an unnamed study. Björn Fridén who wrote this argues in different ways that there are serious question to be asked concerning this.

There is a line saying this, which I find a bit amusing: "Det finns också studier som visar att kvinnor mår bättre och lever längre om mannen de lever med är mycket yngre än dem själva, är det skäl att lägga sig i ålderskillnaderna medelst lagstiftning?" = "There are also studies that show that women feel better and live longer if the man they are living with is much younger than themselves, is that a reason to interfer in the age differences by means of legislation?"

My birthday 2007

Laughter! Thinking about...

...the moments when you just can't stop smile and laugh which make you smile and laugh at the memory. Looking through some photos and remembering. Some people combinations are simply laughing machines.

Another thing that made me laugh this evening was one...or actually two emails my sweet friend sent to me. Sometimes she is just to ridiculously funny, just being her self and having a good time. I forwarded an email about blonds (she is blond and we joke about being "blond") and she responded.

First email at 8.01 pm:

"BAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Second at 8.02 pm:

"Måste bara upprepa: Bahahahahahahahaha! Sanslöst kul"

How wonderful isn't that?!

Compliments

I wonder if people think about how much a simple but honest compliment can do for a person's day and well being? I heard a story about a guy who during break in the lecture went and wrote in a girl's notebook that she was pretty when she smiled and that she should do it more often. The following day she came to school with her hair up in a little nicer way and wearing a little nicer clothes, smiling. The other day a good friend of mine gave me compliment that made me smile. She said that I look better and better as time goes by, that I have developed a style of my own and that she liked it. I have a weakness for bright eyes (not necessarily bluish) and it has happened several times that I have said to strangers or people I have talked to that they have very nice eyes...and yes, I got this from my mum.

It is so easy do be nice but there are a lot of people who don't seem to be thinking of it or comfortable doing so. I know a few who are really good at it but it's just a few. It is like my mum says, that here in Sweden people don't do it so much. Where she comes from people often give compliments and NO, it absolutely doesn't have to have anything to do with flirting as some seem to think.

To Stockholm

Great! I like hearing good news for my friends. S just got the job he wanted in Stockholm and that also means that his and his wife's life is going to be a little easier. :-) I just hope that the cost for transport won't be overwhelming.

You see. It feels like the world is talking about the climate change and how everybody has to contribute to the use of less energy and pollute less. My friend did his math and came to the conclusion that the cost for taking the car to work every day (he lives about an hour outside Stockholm) is just a little more than taking public transportation! How on earth can it be allowed (if nothing else, concerning the conscience) to not do more to make it an direct win-situation for the individual to take public transportation which is so much better for the environment? A lot more people would probably take the train and the company would make more money.

My friend calculated that for him to take the public transportation to work would cost him about 3200 SEK (343 EURO) per month. Fortunately you can deduct the amount that exceeds 7000 SEK (750 EURO) every year for the transport cost to and from work. Still, what incentives do people have to take the train than the car?

I guess that it as usual is about prioritising.....

And who does that?

Drunk Holmes?

"How to make you own alcohol" Haha...it's not even legal to do it. It is an old book...but it was in the window of the bookstore.

Goldy Dalai Lama

China is NOT happy that Dalai Lama received a gold medal by the amerikan congress.

Gay weddings in Swedish churches

"The Church Says Yes To Gay Weddings

Homosexuals should be able to get married in church. That is the opinion of the majority of the Swedish Church's dioceses [stift] according to the paper The Day. [Christian newspaper] ... The only diocese that gave a straight no to a gender free marriage law was Strängnäs."

read in the SKTF's paper.

Pensions & ethical saving

I know it is a boring question that few even want to think about and I am one of them. Although, the question will always remain. Where should you save you future pension money? Very soon I have to make a decision about the money for my pension that the company I worked for earlier this year have, should end up. I know only one thing and it is also something I think YOU, the reader should think about. Saving money for you pension isn't just to put the money somewhere and everything is fine. There are loads of money invested in the WEAPON INDUSTRY and the TOBACCO INDUSTRY and probably other non-ethical companies that I can't think of right now. In other words, many of us SUPPORT these kind of industries without even thinking about it or knowing about it!

I just want to make you think if that is something you want to do with YOUR money? You can make an active choice to avoid industries that contributes to many, many problem in the world and even chose to make sure that your money are invested in places that don't do this and even support things that work FOR a better world.

I haven't decided yet exactly where to start saving but one option is this below. I just have to take a closer look at my options and look at the pros and cons but I know that I won't chose a non-ethical one. I try my best to not being a hypocrite.

"Banco samarbetar med drygt 104 olika ideella organisationer och har fram till 2006 förmedlat ca 636 miljoner kronor till välgörande ändamål.

En ideell fond kännetecknas av att den varje år ger en utdelning till stöd för olika former av ideell verksamhet. De kunder som sparar i ideella fonder använder en del av sitt kapital till att stödja en ideell hjälporganisation som de själva valt, t ex Röda Korset, Rädda Barnen, Amnesty eller någon annan.

Du kan själv välja att låta en viss procent av ditt sparande placeras i någon av våra ideella fonder. Sedan väljer du den organisation som du vill ge ditt stöd; Amnesty, Ecpat, Rädda Barnen eller någon annan av de 100 ideella organisationer vi samarbetar med - välj var ditt hjärta ligger."

and http://net11.amnesty.se/www/stod/privat/humanfonden

I have also seen that KPA don't invest in the weapon industry. Beside this I don't know anything. I just want you to be aware of the fact that your money could go to companies who's weapon's might be killing innocent people around the world.

MC Donalds

Haha... http://karinlangstromvinge.blogspot.com/2007/11/dagens-skoj.html

Opinions about helporganizations

About Swede's opinions about non-profit helporganisations. The survey is made by Gallup, January 2007, commissioned by Banco Fonder. The text below is just a few pieces from the survey.

Summarize: "Women, highly educated people and people with high salaries are more positive than others to non-profit helporganizations. The biggest differences are bewteen the age groups, there the young people are a lot more positive (age 16-29) and the older the people are, the more negative they get. Both young guys and young girls are very positive."

"Precis som i de tidigare mätningarna finns det tydliga resultatskillnader mellan olika undergrupper av svarande. Kvinnor, välutbildade personer samt höginkomsttagare är mer positiva än övriga till ideella hjälporganisationer.

Den största skillnaden i allmän inställning till dessa organisationer finner man dock när man studerar olika åldersgrupper. Det visar sig nämligen att de yngsta undersökningsdeltagarna är de som är klart mest positiva. Inställningen till hjälporganisationerna blir sedan allt mindre positiv ju högre upp i ålder man kommer. Bland de yngsta i undersökningen (16-29 år) är 95% positiva eller mycket positiva till ideella hjälporganisationer – motsvarande siffra bland de äldsta respondenterna (60 år eller äldre) är 70%.

De tydliga skillnaderna mellan olika åldersgrupper känner vi igen sedan tidigare mätningar, även om skillnaderna inte varit fullt lika stora tidigare – årets resultat pekar på ett rekordstort stöd för hjälporganisationerna bland de unga. Såväl unga killar som unga tjejer har en mycket positiv inställning till dessa organisationer."

DAD! It's YOUR day!

Some call their father "far" and others "farsan" and others "dad". I always have and will always call him PAPPA (dad)! He's the best so he deserves to be called PAPPA!

Frustrating conversation ;-)

* Bla bla bla...

- Bla bla bla 5 %.

* Sorry, what do you mean? 5 % of what? I don't understand.

- 5!

* Of what?

- 5 %!

* OF WHAT?!

(and so on...)

- 5 % are xxxx.

* Ahaaaaa...Why didn't you just say so?

- I did.

* No you didn't, you answered my question about "what is 5 %" with "5 %", I got the 5 % thing but not WHAT it is that is 5 %. NOW I understand though, when you said what it was you meant.

- I thought that was clear, I thought you understood.

* Obviously not, I wouldn't have asked "5 % of what?" if I had.

---------------------------

Isn't it "fun" when you get into conversations where someone doesn't hear something or doesn't understand the sentence and when the other person is trying to explain, he or she totally misses to repeat the main point of that specific part of the conversation? Instead he/she repeats the detail that is hanging free from the rest of the discussion and is clear as a day but without a real meaning.

Killing in the name of...

Rage Against the Machine - "Killing in the name of"

www.bandit.se

Hey you...

...there are answers to your questions about peace/whimp now...

The hug is on the news

This is obviously huge, the hugging thing. That's cool :-)

Want to know more?

Feeling down? HUGS!!!!

You just HAVE to see this! If you are not smiling after seeing this, I don't know what kind of person you are. So if you are not feeling very joyful at the moment, you most definitely show check this out. :-D

I want one too!

Less compensation --> more jobs?!

"Forskningen kan naturligtvis inte säga vilken ekonomisk politik som är den "bästa", eftersom sådana ställningstaganden måste grundas på både analys och värderingar. Ett exempel är höstens a-kassedebatt. Forskningen ger starkt stöd för att lägre arbetslöshetsersättning innebär fler jobb. Men samtidigt innebär lägre a-kassa sämre försäkringsskydd för de arbetslösa och sannolikt en ojämnare inkomstfördelning. Hur den målkonflikten ska hanteras är en politisk fråga. Men besluten bör förstås grundas på så god kunskap som möjligt om sambandet mellan a-kassenivå och sysselsättning."

Lars Calmfors (whom I by the way have a book by, it was course literature at the time I studied national economy)

http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=572&a=601516&previousRenderType=2

I am very curious HOW the lower compensation in it self creates more jobs. Does the fact that people get less money from one part, mean that eg. companies (another part) have more money and actual things that need to be done, hence wanting more people to work for them? Or? I simply can't see the connection.

That the uneven income distribution become larger is something that I intuitively can understand, it is even the explicit point, but not the prior situation.

Public exposure? Go to Olofsson/Vero Moda

Imagine you walk into a clothing store and grab some things you want to try on. You walk into the fitting room, starts taking of your clothes and in that very moment a head pops up in the mirror, looking down at you, asking "Can I help you?".

Imagine this happens maybe not every time you visit that specific store but rather often. You have never experienced it anywhere else ever. When you finally ask a person in the store if it is a policy to do that, they say yes, saying that they do it because most of the shop lifting takes place in the fitting room.

I asked that and I also asked how they could thing it was ok to do that thing to anyone, making them feel very uncomfortable, exposed and without any possibility to get away. Always risking being seen almost naked by a perfect stranger + the fact that they assume you are committing a crime?

Answer: The rather short guy that I was arguing with, said that he had never seen anyone in just underwear (I thought quietly it is just because he can't see over the door), as if that mattered. The main thing he said was that the store is private area and they do what they want.

I said that I am, after 4 years as a costumer, never going to buy anything there again, then I left.

What store am I talking about? Olofsson (which has the same owner as Vero Moda, which used the premises before and had the same policy)

Yummie

Ah...the pirogues I made last night (sometimes I'm most effective around 10pm-1am) around 11 pm. Recipes? Bah! Nooo...I just made something up and hopes for the best and now I am waiting for the evening when I can eat the final ones for dinner. :-)

By the way, just a small tip. Do not poor almost boiling water all over your hand. It takes such a long time to heal and no long be visible.

Why not torture?

From Bo Lindblom who has extensive knowledge about this and many other things:

1. Många som drabbas av tortyr är helt oskyldiga. De kan ha utsatts för en falsk angivelse eller de har bara råkat befinna sig på fel plats vid fel tidpunkt.

2. Tortyr ger skador som kan vara hela livet. Även sedan de fysiska skadorna har läkts kvarstår mentala skador som bara kan lindras genom omfattande behandling. För de flesta drabbade finns ingen sådan behandling att tillgå.

3. Tortyr framtvingar ofta falsk information och leder till felaktiga gripanden. I USA har det nu börjat komma fram att erfarna högre militärer och tidigare anställda inom CIA och FBI är djupt oroade över Bush-administrationens inställning till information som tagits fram genom tortyr (eller med metoder som nu kallas något annat men som enligt sedan länge gällande normer definieras som tortyr). Även Danmarks statsminister har förklarat att han inte ser något hinder för att använda information som framkommit under tortyr – förutsatt att tortyren inte skett i Danmark. Men personer som är verkligt sakkunniga inom det här området betecknar bekännelser och angivelser som framkommit under tortyr som ”rotten information”.

4. Förekomsten av tortyr skärper redan existerande motsättningar i samhället. Vem som helst bör väl kunna föreställa sig hur vi skulle reagera om någon nära anhörig hade torterats.

5. För att dölja grov tortyr är det i många länder vanligt att de ansvariga tillgriper tortyr till döds – även av oskyldiga, som annars skulle kunna vittna om vad de har utsatts för, och av vilka. Här är fallet Dagmar Hagelin ett känt exempel – hon greps på grund av en förväxling, men efter förhören var hon så illa tilltygad att hon inte kunde visas upp.

Hayden and her dolphins

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1291049,00.html

"TV star Hayden Panettiere has been involved in a violent confrontation with Japanese fishermen as she tried to disrupt their annual dolphin slaughter."

Hayden has courage

Nice to hear that there are people, famous ones, have courage to stand up for their believes in a very evident way...

She's in "Heroes".

Computer intrusion (m)

http://www.politikerbloggen.se/2007/11/06/7552/

AI-meetings

The feeling I've had before came more clear to me last night. I went to a Amnesty meeting (a little larger, monthly one) and as soon as I stepped into the room, all the bad thoughts I had before just disappeared. I had thought about things that had happened lately and several weeks ago, everything just spinning around as usual in my crowded head. I felt annoyed and frustrated. After the meeting I just felt good and calm, even though the meeting finished with an hour long "lecture" about what the Red Cross' Treatment Center for people exposed to torture and who are hurt by war held by a woman working there. So even if the evening ended with talk about posttraumatic stress etc., I felt so good afterwards. It's something about the people there, always nice and friendly, everyone having basic values that I agree with (which for me is relaxing), having fun although the subject usually not tend to be at all as amusing. Well, I like it.

"Gigantinho"

What a funny word, it's actually a name of a stadium or something. Some what paradoxical, gigant = giant, -inho = diminutive (making something "small"). So it means something like "The little giant".

Having soul peace

I got the comment from somebody who said that more people should be like me, standing up for things that are bad...like smoking. In some areas and some cases I can be a bitch, that means that I am just a little less bad than the people am this bitch towards. I say only one thing: one earns one's respect.

The funny thing is that there is a person who made my choice to try to stop being a pathetic wimp...a person who made me cry for two (separate) nights. Who made me flee into the bathroom so that no one could reach me. Who maybe made me feel worse than I ever had... I am a wimp in my own eyes almost every day but I am working on it and it is easier since that evening. I chose one peace before another.

Baby smoker

My neighour makes me crazy. He has started to smoke inside again, even though he has a baby at home who is about two months old. He forces his own child to inhale deadly substances even when she is at sleep, like right now.

Politics you wonder? Yes, information...there is obviously not enough.

Boots & weird advices

Finally I found a pair I like and afford (or so I hope). There was an advise attached to them. I don't understand the second part of the advice. Do you?!








This is not from my boots but it is close to what I consider an almost perfect heel (for a more everyday shoe).

Eleanora cockatoo & BSB

Animals are fun! Chick this out.


http://birdloversonly.blogspot.com/2007/09/may-i-have-this-dance.html

and this...

http://birdloversonly.blogspot.com/2007/10/snowball-and-huey.html

Make sure mum sees this :-)