Proud Infidel ranting about the ongoing war against democratic and secular values (Don't fool yourselves)! Maybe a voice of sanity in a wide ocean of madness.

20081229

The best aid there is...

... is no aid at all!

Accute aid for catastrophs- Yes! Aid for aid it selves purpouse- NO!

Much of the worlds poverty and suffering could be hindered by NOT giving out handouts!

By (name diety of chose)- Only in four days in December, the "palestinians" at the Gaza strip receved some 1400 tons of humanitary aid. What was their response?
200 Rockets vollyed in to Israelian territory!

No farmer in a poor country can compete with freebees being given out. So no farming will be done... That means that the people of the country will plunge more deeper in to poverty and famine.

SIDA for example- has to give away 1 000 000 KR every day, all year around, and virtually no one knows where the money goes to. It's insane!
Most probably- the money ends up in the leaders of the crooked states we give it to!
Like: RUSSIA! The space nation INDIA! Zimbawe, North Korea, the oil naition of VENEZUELA and frikking Saudi Arabia for cows sake... Just to take a few examples.

Gnnnarrrgh!

20081228

2008 was the year man-made global warming was disproved

"The first, on May 21, headed "Climate change threat to Alpine ski resorts" , reported that the entire Alpine "winter sports industry" could soon "grind to a halt for lack of snow". The second, on December 19, headed "The Alps have best snow conditions in a generation" , reported that this winter's Alpine snowfalls "look set to beat all records by New Year's Day".

Easily one of the most important stories of 2008 has been all the evidence suggesting that this may be looked back on as the year when there was a turning point in the great worldwide panic over man-made global warming. Just when politicians in Europe and America have been adopting the most costly and damaging measures politicians have ever proposed, to combat this supposed menace, the tide has turned in three significant respects.

First, all over the world, temperatures have been dropping in a way wholly unpredicted by all those computer models which have been used as the main drivers of the scare. Last winter, as temperatures plummeted, many parts of the world had snowfalls on a scale not seen for decades. This winter, with the whole of Canada and half the US under snow, looks likely to be even worse. After several years flatlining, global temperatures have dropped sharply enough to cancel out much of their net rise in the 20th century.

Ever shriller and more frantic has become the insistence of the warmists, cheered on by their army of media groupies such as the BBC, that the last 10 years have been the "hottest in history" and that the North Pole would soon be ice-free – as the poles remain defiantly icebound and those polar bears fail to drown. All those hysterical predictions that we are seeing more droughts and hurricanes than ever before have infuriatingly failed to materialise."

Read the rest

The great global warming swindle! Oh yes! I believe a lot of persons and "scientists" will have to look for other means of income over the years to come...

(But of corse, the global decline in temperatures must be caused by... Global warming!)

The Gore should stop looking in to his navel and emediatly return his non deserved Nobel prize, then go get a really deserved spanking (although I suspect he would think of that as a reward...)

I have said it over and over and again, but I'll keep nagging you about it. The single greatest source of greenhouse gasses are (drumroll...) THE SUN! Can we legislate against this selfish, capitalistic marurder?

What ever CO2 humankind emitts is just a fish fart in the ocean!

But besides that; The Gore must be one of the biggest hypocrhates in the history. His message is, "Do as I say- don't do as I do".

His mansion alone draws as much energy as the whole building block that I live in. He flies all over the world and presumably, according to his staure, emitts as much greenhouse gasses himself as a mid size cow.

The best thing The Gore could do for the climate would be to just... Lay down... And just perish.

20081225

In defence of taxhavens

Part 1 and 2

Part 3

Talk about hypochrasy among the OECD member states.
Just see for your self. The parts each are about 9 minutes long and should be mandatory wievimg for anyone debating taxes.

20081223

Eating grass

AS a convoy of blue-and-white United Nations trucks loaded with food waited last night for Israeli permission to enter Gaza, Jindiya Abu Amra and her 12-year-old daughter went scrounging for the wild grass their family now lives on.

“We had one meal today - khobbeizeh,” said Abu Amra, 43, showing the leaves of a plant that grows along the streets of Gaza. “Every day, I wake up and start looking for wood and plastic to burnfor fuel and I beg. When I find nothing, we eat this grass.”

Abu Amra and her unemployed husband have seven daughters and a son. Their tiny breeze-block house has had no furniture since they burnt the last cupboard for heat.

“I can’t remember seeing a fruit,” said Rabab, 12, who goes with her mother most mornings to scavenge. She is dressed in a tracksuit top and holed jeans, and her feet are bare.

Conditions for most of the 1.5m Gazans have deteriorated dramatically in the past month, since a truce between Israel and Hamas, the ruling Islamist party, broke down.

Of course- the means and money is there to build quassam rockets which are fired in to Israel on a daily basis!

Israel says it will open the borders again when Hamas stops launching rockets at southern Israel. Hamas says it will crack down on the rocket launchers when Israel opens the borders.

Go figures. It's like- We will stop terrorising you when you pay up like good little dhimmis. One wonders why the palis can't provide for themselves. For instance by using the high technological greenhouses that the Israelians left behind after the drawback from the Gaza strip?

Oh yes! The greenhouses were emidiatly plundered and are used as tunnel digging fronts to smuggle weapons and explosives into Israel... !

Face it. The palis are nothing but leeches whos sole existence depends on their arch enemy. And what do they do to thank Israel for holding them under their arms? If the Israelians can make these barren lands flower and prosper, why can't the arabs do it? Or really- why don't they want to do it? Could it possibly have something to do with their ideology disguised as a religion?

Read the rest of the Boohoo here.

Freedom of press

Link

[...]

Two aspects stand out in the index, which covers the 12 months to 1 September 2008. One is Europe’s preeminence. Aside from New Zealand and Canada, the first 20 positions are held by European countries. The other is the very respectable ranking achieved by certain Central American and Caribbean countries. Jamaica and Costa Rica are in 21st and 22nd positions, rubbing shoulders with Hungary (23rd). Just a few position below them are Surinam (26th) and Trinidad and Tobago (27th). These small Caribbean countries have done much better than France (35th), which has fallen again this year, this time by four places, and Spain (36th) and Italy (44th), countries held back again by political or mafia violence. Namibia (23rd), a large and now peaceful southern African country that came first in Africa, ahead of Ghana (31st), was just one point short of joining the top 20.

Sweden comes in tied on a 7:th place and the trend is falling. More surprising is that USA falls in at 36:th place albeit with a heavy upgoing trend- but still!

Read it all!

20081221

Che and Mao as your homeboys...

Video 7:33 Mn

Is it not fascinating how scertain people ideolises massmurderers?
It's the same people nowdays that weares Kheffyieh's and che' t- shirts.
The excact same people that bashes gays and pecuriarly enough are against the EU (considering that the EU should be a leftists wet dream- it's the internationale come true).
It's the same people, calling themselves anti-fascists, while using every violent method that fascists themselves uses.
It is the same people that loathes national socialaists and at the same time embraces islamists- I mean what the hell, they are all on the same place on the political scale! And they just don't get it!
It's the same people that thinks that freedom of speach should just be appliceble to their own ranks.
It's the same people that think that wearing stereo earplugs allowes you to walk in the middle of a street.
It's the same people that think Israel and USA are the bad guys and not the bomb tossing, rocket throwing, IED setting morons out there in the world.

In short: They are idiots!

Criminality- a state secret


This statistics are about criminals in Denmark. These kind of statistics here in Sweden are considered state secrets and are not to be revieled. But It's unlikly to be less worse here as we have a much greater proportion of immigrants here, especially from muslim countrys (and before some of you even try; muslims are not a race!).

If we absolutely must import people here it seems to me that chinese people would be preferable.

I'm feeling hot, hot, hot!

From the New York Times, December 12: Soviet scientists on board an icebreaker drifting just 300 miles from the North Pole have concluded that the world is getting hotter.

Warm-water fish are appearing in increasing numbers in Arctic seas as temperatures have risen, melting the ice caps.

The Russian explorers believe that very soon ships will be able to sail right across the Pole.

This news will be welcomed by ‘global warming’ campaigners - except that it first appeared on December 12, 1938, and has just been republished on a website run by a former TV meteorologist, who treats the whole ‘climate change’ racket with a healthy dose of sea salt.

And at the same time right now Las Vegas are freezing over, the polar caps are larger than for decennias and there are more polar bears than anytime during the last century.

Now I will go and lit a totally uneccercarily lamp in the closet. I will pay for it! The electric company will send me a bill. But maybe, just maybe that will contribute to save a polar bear or two who otherwise would starve to death because they can't find any food because of the growing polar caps.

Oh!- And 3/4 of a lemming.

20081219

Riots in Rosengård PII

Jakob Bilal har sin lägenhet ovanför den före detta moskén på Ramels väg och han är orolig.

Jakob Bilal outside his apartement.

Four days in a row riots have ravaged on the streets of Rosengård. The containers have been put outside of the former cellar mosque to hinder occupants to enter the premesis.

Jakob, who has his apartement just above the containers expresses his worry about his familys security.

"Look here. This is Palestine and Israel is out there. And the wall goes right in between."

Sort of tells you what's going on in Rosengård?!

Basem Mahmoud, the spokesman for the mosque occupiers, says that he don't want to be associated with the troublemakers. Yet there are strong indications that he himself has called in the rioters- according to a police source.

Many of those arrested are previously known by the police from protests with connections to animal rights (!), house ockupations and fair trade demonstrations. (Funny how that kind of demonstrations allmost allways ends up with violence and riots!)

Eight trailers and two cars was set on fire during Thursday night. Ewa-Gun Westford- the spokes person for the police- says that "It looks like a war zone here".
She continues: "It has been hard to work here, all police cars have been damaged. They have thrown bombs at us".

Police and firemen had to evacuate the area out of concern for their own safety.

Traffic had to be rerouted. Evelina Jörhov says: "It was scary. For a moment it did not feel like I was in Sweden."

Between 9:05 and 9:20 PM five arsons was reported at Ramels street. Firefighters who tried to put out the fires were bombarded with rocks thrown by protesters.

A witness- Sara Gilliard - says: "There were a lot of masked persons with Keffyieh's (Palestine scarfs- aka "freedom scarfs") was running around pouring gasoline and setting fires. It was quite scary because I live right nearby."

It was just a matter of time! The critical mass has been achived. Thank you Swedish politicians!

Video of the riot

Update:
MSM is reporting that it was calmer during Saturday night. Just a few incidents with container arsons and shootings at polices. "Just as any ordinary Saturday". On the other hand there also were a storm going on. The people in the black hoodies just don't want to get wet I suppose.

Peps and Peps

One of them is the original artist, the other one is a comedian (Robert Gustavsson).

Reggae at it's best. Swedish- but try it; you might like it.

Oh Boy (Video)

20081218

Riots in Rosengård





Rosengård is a community or suburb of the city of Malmö- Sweden. It is a majority immigrant area with a high proportion of muslims. many radical muslims that later has got killed or captured while committing jihad comes from Rosegård.
Unrest continues near vacated Malmö mosque.
Fresh disturbances erupted on Wednesday evening near the basement location which had previously served as a mosque in Malmö's Rosengård district.
Fireworks were aimed at police and several fires were lit when police arrived to blockade the basement office with containers. Tensions in the area were still high as of 12.30am Thursday morning, according to police in Skåne.
One man was arrested during the evening on suspicions of preparing to commit assault. Three other men and boys were also detained. The youngest, born in 1992, was taken home to his parents.
The police’s main goal for the evening was to ensure that emergency crews could perform their duties and extinguish the fires which continued to burn in the area. More than ten fires were lit over the course of the evening.
The basement offices, which had previously served as a mosque for the Islamiska kulturföreningen (‘Islamic Cultural Association’), had been occupied since November 24th to protest against the landlord’s decision not to renew the association’s lease for the space, which it had held for the past 15 years.
On Monday, police forcibly removed the remaining three protesters from the space in front of a crowd of angry onlookers. Emotions have been running high since the forced evacuation, resulting in sporadic disturbances throughout the week.
At first the riots were between police and angry muslims, but later on so called "autonomic youths" gathered in on the scene of stone, bottle and fire bombings. According to the tabloid Expressen, the police says that "We have indications that they (the autonoms) were called in to help out with the rioting."
Well, isn't that sweet. Two fascist groups hand in hand, probably feeling "hurt" because a cellar mosque had to close down. Naughty, naughty police...
What the MSM excludes in their reporting is the reason of the eviction.
Apparently, not only the Swedish police have been interrested in the people who run the cellar mosque- Islamiska Kulturföreningen. In a co-op with intelligens from USA, American agents have interrogated a number of people within IK.
Some of them are very nervous about it- apparently because they got something to hide- according to a police source. One man found out that he was on the interrigation list and ran out of the country to Hungaria where he now apparently resides.
There has also been hate preaching and selling of hate preaching litterature in the premesis.
When the landlord found out about this- he descided not to renew the lease contract. (DUH!)
So to protest at the hideous wrongdoings against the muslim community that had been undertaken; they riot- just to show what a peacful ideology they embrace, I suppose.

20081216

UAW Was 'Solely' to Blame for Collapse of Auto Industry Bailout Negotiations, Says Sen. Coburn

CNSNews.com) - The United Auto Workers (UAW) union is “solely” to blame for the collapse of negotiations on a $14-billion auto bailout deal that stalled in the Senate Thursday, Sen. Tom Colburn (R-Okla.) told CNSNews.com on Friday.


[...]

The auto bailout bill, which passed the House in a 237-170 vote on Wednesday, was defeated in a 52-35 procedural vote in the Senate late Thursday night after negotiations between automakers, the UAW, and Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) fell apart.

As far as the failure of last night, it solely lies on UAW,” Coburn told CNSNews.com. “All we asked was, ‘Just give us a date at which you will have competitive wage rates. We will put it in and that’s what you will have to meet.’ They would not move. They would not renegotiate their contract with GM as far as wage rates.”

[...]


“UAW contracts have played a big role in pulling automakers into the crisis they now face,” said Griswold. “Those contracts are the single biggest difference between domestic and foreign-owned competitors operating on U.S. soil.”

Unions- what can you say?
Here in Sweden the domestic unions did a blockade against a Polish contractor who rightfully and law abiding won a contract to build a structure.
The protestors stood on the picket lines and yelled "GO HOME!" Because as they said- "They don't get market salaries (the workers). The result? The Polish contractor had to close down and lay off every single worker.

That's unity, innit?

Read it all

20081214

Sorry

My leg is aching and I'm doing summersaults in the socialicieced medicare system for the moment. Hope to be back sometimes next week.

But you all; keep up the good work!

20081212

Saudi mosque at the north pole


A Saudi buissnessman has donated $2,74 million for building a mosque at the arctics in Norway.
It will be a cold day in hell...

20081210

Dominic Lawson: Kyoto is worthless (and you don't have to be a sceptic to believe that now)




The EU has managed to claim success while increasing emissions by 13 per cent.

[...]



This fabricated market in carbon has at its heart the UN's Clean Development Mechanism. This is how the EU, which had an obligation under Kyoto to reduce its emissions by two per cent by 2012, has managed to claim success while actually increasing its emissions by 13 per cent. By purchasing so called "offsets" from countries such as China, Britain, for example, proclaims itself a "leader in the fight against climate change".



Most of this is entirely fraudulent, in the sense that the Chinese have been paid billions to destroy particular atmospheric pollutants, such as CFC-23, which have actually been manufactured in order to be destroyed – and for no other purpose. This is hardly surprising: if something is accorded a price (especially a fixed one) then companies will queue up to produce it.



Read it all



I have said it before but I will keep on nagging until (some) people understand!



I don't own a car. Not because I would not like to have one, but because in this city it's impractical. So I bicykle instead. "Well that's mighty echological of you!", you say.



Besides whatevr CO2 thtat has been emitted when manufacturing the bike, you just cant get away from the fact that transporting a certain mass over a given distance- allways will produce the same amount of CO2!



You can of course make a smaller lighter car that can't take as much load as an bigger and heavier one. But the energy effectiveness of the engines we have to day, with the technology at our disposal- are fixed.



As an engine- Humans are not escpecially effective- for transport, the Otto and the Diesel engine far outclasses us. So If I would take the same amount of mass as in a car- say for a road trip- a certain distance on a bike (OK, OK- humor me on this one), I would produce about four times as much CO2 than the car would. You got to have some perspective on the whole thing.



Electric cars?



Well, besides the enormous amount of energy spent on making the car itself but most importantly the manufacturing of the batteries (remember- energy spent =CO2 emissions); where would you take the energy from? It's not magic! The electric power has to come from some where!



Water turbines? Besides the fact that it takes a humungus amount of energy to build them; there are just not enough suitable places in the world for them to be constructed in.



Wind turbines? Don't even get me in to that discussion- and that goes for solar power to.



That pretty much leaves us with nuclear energy, which the greens hate so much that they have imposed a thought- law here in Sweden. The scientists are actually forbidden to do even any research about fission or fusion technology.



This is of course pure speculation over the notion that the CO2 imprint humanity does have any impact on the global climate at all! Nobody knows. And The Gore knows less than my shoe strings, besides the fact that he is a raving, dribbeling, cat woman, cat tossing hypochrite!

Also read this! - UN Blowback: More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims

20081209

Swedish public pool to rent out burkinis


In a nod to women not wishing to reveal too much, an indoor public swimming pool in Sweden has begun renting out burkinis, full-body swimsuits that cover everything but the face, hands, and feet.

For 30 kronor ($3.75), the Stadsparksbadet pool in Borås in western Sweden now offers bathers who would rather not bathe in traditional swimwear something more comfortable that allows them to utilize the co-ed public pool

“[Previously] there hasn’t been a well-functioning alternative,” said pool head Anette Ekberg to the Borås Tidning (BT) newspaper, explaining that bathers who in the past chose not to wear regular swimsuits had to come up with more creative – but often less practical solutions.

“Some would swim in long pants and a shirt. Not the best solution but we don’t want to prohibit something because we can’t provide an alternative.”

The issue of appropriate attire for women at Sweden’s indoor public pools has received attention at both ends of the spectrum in the last year.

Back in February, the city of Gothenburg was ordered to pay damages to two Muslim mothers who were kicked out of a swimming pool for not removing their veils. The city appealed the ruling to Sweden’s Supreme Court, which has yet to try to case.

And in May, the central Swedish town of Enköping decided it would prohibit women from bathing topless at the town’s indoor pool.

The move came on the heels of the opposite decision by officials in Sundsvall in northern Sweden to allow women to swim topless following pressure from the Bara Bröst network - which translates both as 'bare breasts' and 'just breasts'.

[Now, I would fight for the rights of the womans in the last paragraph!]

Read the rest at The Local

20081207

Police detain 470 at neo-Nazi demonstration


Note that no one in the picture are nazis. They are instead what the papers call "activists" another word for left wing facists!

Police took 470 activists into custody at Saturday's demonstrations in Salem, south of Stockholm. 15 were arrested as police reported a "successful day".

Tension was high this year as extremist groups from right and left assembled in Salem, south-western Stockholm, for demonstrations variously in support of neo-Nazi groups or for democracy against fascism. [Err- first of all. Both wings belongs on the left hand- authortarian side on the political scale (NSDAP= Nationale Socialistic Deuthche Arbeider Partie= Nazis. Second: The neo- nazis might be crackpots, BUT they excerciced their constitutional right to demonstrate and had a permit for it. The "activists" did not! They never have!]

Fire-bombing attacks at the end of November against left-wing activists in nearby Högdalen had caused extra concern at the annual event which takes place to mark the death of a 17-year-old neo-Nazi killed on December 9th 2000. [As I said- the nazis aswell as the "activists are cracpots and idiots! The firebombing against the left- wing activists did take place after THEY had firebombed a well known nazi syphatizers home as a revenge for the alleged firebombing of the "youth house" Cyclopen. They did-and don't- not know who the perps was and automatically assumed that it was the nazis. It could be the nazis, but I would not be the least surprised if it were someone in the ranks of the "activists" themself. They have a pretty bad track record with firebombings.

"It was a successful day from a police perspective," said Anders Olsson at Stockholm police to news agency TT.

Nätverk mot Rasism (network against racism) held a standing demonstration at around lunchtime and managed to assemble some 350 activists, while the far-right Salemfond was given permission to march to Salem from nearby Rönninge.

Police detained 274 demonstrators who had assembled at Rönninge station before dispersing them by buses and trains to locations far from the town.

A group of known militant Danish and German activists were collected by police from a bus in Alby and prevented from joining in the Salem demonstrations. [Again; Why do they call them "activists"? They are nothing more than thugs- or even fascist terrorists. Is it not ironic that AFA (Anti Facist Action) are using exactly the means their socialist brothers (the fascists) uses to by unparlimantary ways try to undermine free speach?]

A further 33 people from Norway, Germany and the UK were detained at Kafé 44 on Södermalm in Stockholm.

In total of 15 of those detained were placed under arrest on suspicion of charges ranging from intent to cause grievous bodily harm, intent to vandalism and sabotage, rioting and weapons offences.

At 5.30pm around 700 neo-Nazis joined the march in Rönninge towards the bus stop where the teenager was killed in 2000.

The cost of the police demonstration is thought to be in the region of 6 million kronor ($711,000) and opposition to the demonstrations has become more vocal in recent years. [Send AFA the bill! They were the ones doing all the violence and carnage. Who are the bad guys really?]

The Local reported on Saturday that a group pf cross-party local councillors penned a debate article in Dagens Nyheter on Saturday arguing that the police and the courts are giving permission for an organised riot. [No it's called freedom of expression and the constitutional right for demonstrations (with permission- something the brown-shirts had, not AFA and their hang-ons.]

Kristina Alvendal, the Moderate party chairman of Stockholm police board, was in Salem on Saturday and was however happy with what she saw.

"The police have had the situation firmly under control," Alvendal said while expressing understanding for local residents who are obliged to live under siege for a December day every year. ["The police have had the situation firmly under control" WHUT? 6MKr in cost just for the police and no one knows how much that was destroyed in the riots and what value that has. Please sir, I have to smile a little bit.]

Link

I might not agree with what you say- but I would give my life for your right to say it (Voltaire never said that- but it's a good one liner...

Holocaust deniers

From The Jerusalem Post

"In the contemporary context, it was the socialist
Swedish prime minister, the late Olof Palme,
who under the guise of promoting human rights,
became the first European leader to inverse
Holocaust denial by accusing Israelis of behaving
like Nazis toward the Palestinians."


Yupp! No wonder there are so many streets named after Palme in muslim countrys...

Olmerts "partner in peace" were up to blowing up a busstation

TEL AVIV, Israel – Members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization were involved in planning a foiled attack targeting Tel Aviv's central bus station yesterday, terrorist sources told WND.

Information obtained also indicates specific Fatah terrorists granted amnesty in recent months by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert plotted the attack. That detail is significant because, according to Palestinian sources speaking to WND, Olmert is slated to announce the pardon of dozens more Fatah terrorists ahead of a Muslim holiday this weekend.

Yesterday, Israeli police, acting on specific intelligence, thwarted what they said would have been a large-scale terrorist bombing of Tel Aviv's bus station. Security forces here arrested a Palestinian resident of the West Bank city of Jenin who had infiltrated Israel. He was captured along with three other people at a house just outside Tel Aviv.

Following the Palestinian's arrest yesterday, the would-be bomber led police to a nearby city where he had hidden a bag filled with explosives reportedly meant to be detonated at the bus station.

Sources in Fatah's declared military wing, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, told WND yesterday their group planned the bombing alongside the Islamic Jihad terror organization in Jenin. Fatah is Israel's declared peace partner. The group is considered moderate by U.S. policy.

Nevertheless, the Israeli media and official Israeli government spokesmen, declared the thwarted bombing was an Islamic Jihad operation with no mention of Fatah and its Brigades.

WND has learned the original intelligence alerting security forces here to yesterday's planned bombing came with the arrest, just hours before the plot was halted, of Ahmed Amire, a Fatah Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade member in Jenin who had been pardoned by Olmert last June.

Also, the night before, the Israel Defense Forces, conducting an anti-terror arrest operation, killed Muhammad Abu Drei, another pardoned Al Aqsa member on suspicion he was plotting an imminent attack meant for central Israel. Drei was killed after he opened fire on Israeli forces. Amire may have provided the intelligence on the whereabouts of the Palestinian bomber, although security sources declined to divulge the information to WND due to an ongoing investigation.

Olmert issued amnesty to Amire, Drei and to over 100 of their Brigades colleagues on condition they disarm, refrain from attacks and spend three months in a PA detention facility. Following the three month detention, the pardoned Brigades terrorists would need to spend another three months confined to the city in which they reside, and then the gunmen would be offered full amnesty – meaning they would have complete freedom of travel throughout the West Bank and would be treated like an ordinary Palestinian.

Read the rest.

20081206

Fighting the system

As you all know, I have been having some health trouble for a while now. Thank god for our "free" health care.

The local has asked some reders of their opinion about taxes in Sweden. Are they to high?

Here follows the full article: (My responses in Italics)

Every week we ask a group of readers for their views on a particular aspect of life in Sweden. This week, we wonder whether Swedish taxes rock the panelists’ cradle or have them wishing for an early grave.


Graeme Newcomb

Graeme Newcomb

Paint me red and call me a socialist, but I do not think Swedish taxes are too high when one considers what one gets in return. [But what do we really get in return?]

In Sweden we have a reliable, modern and well-integrated public transport system and road network that has to cater for a very widely dispersed population [agreed- allthough they are almost all private companies]. We also have one of the most generous social benefits systems for parents and children including an excellent (and affordable) public healthcare system, [Well, having been in the system both on the in side and as a receving patient- I have to disagree. First of all; It's not free. You pay almost twice the amount in taxes for healthcare than you would for a health insurance in the USA- and then some. The bureacrasy is humungous, the administration costs 50% of the total. I myself have been in the system now for two months- the waiting lists are just incredible and they still have not fixed me] extremely long paid maternity and paternity leave [agreed], highly subsidised day care for children [Yes but I would rather have that money I pay in in taxes and stay home and care for my child myself]and, essentially, free schooling and university. [For everyone. That is why an unproportionally amount of the students are from abroad. Not only is the (higher studies) free, we also pay people from other countries to come here and study].

Our taxes have also allowed Sweden to invest in environmental strategies resulting in Sweden becoming one of the most environmentally friendly countries in the world. [Yes- the pollution here are quite small on a global scale. But we also pay the highest taxes in the world for it to be].

The only downside is that our taxes also have to pay for a very large and cumbersome public sector that lags a long way behind Sweden's private sector in terms of productivity. [Totally agreed].


Kristina Assouri

Kristina Assouri

There is an old saying that goes something like: “you get what you pay for!” In the case of taxes, I think we can all clearly agree that in order for government, any government, to provide for its citizenry, they need to collect some form of revenue (call it a tax in this case) for commonly used services like paving roads, healthcare, unemployment benefits, mass transit, to name a few. It becomes problematic when what you pay for is a lot more than what you get. [DUH!]

I have been paying into the Swedish tax system for about seven months now, and the rate based on the same income earned in the United States is definitely a lot higher and I am not quite seeing the direct benefits. [Duh- again]

But paying these high taxes really requires a person to make a decision to change one's lifestyle. If you want to retain more of your own hard-earned cash and pay for the basic necessities, then you are in the wrong country my friend. [My girl!]

If, instead, you trust the government to provide for those basic needs, then Sweden is the place for you. I can give you an example of me driving in a suburb of Sweden where the roads were so bumpy and the earth so uneven that I think the streets of Baghdad are better paved. [I think I'm in love!]

So my point is that I expect this in the United States. We know what the bureaucracy has done to that great country. But in Sweden, with nine million people, I expect the roads to be paved in Stockholm’s suburbs. [!]

As a foreign consultant, we are not afforded health insurance or unemployment benefits. So at the end of the day, it just doesn’t add up. In most cases, even the special taxes in Sweden are “taxed”. As one Swede put it in kinder terms, “in Sweden, we have a tax for literally everything imaginable”. [Speaks for itself]

Bureaucracies happen on many levels. But there is also no doubt that we don’t have caps or ceilings on our salaries. ["There is no doubt that the United States has perfected the art of bureaucracy."- Well sweet Kristina. Yuo just wait and see. I for instance have not got any sick leave money for almost two months. The orthopedist missed to send off the insurance note to Försäkringskassan. I actually had to get myself to the local office and turn in the papers just after the surgery. Fine I thought- now it's in the system. But noo, you see, it has gone allmost a week now and I still has not got any money. When asking a friend of mine who works for the Försäkringskassan what was up. She said that all insurance papers are mailed by snail- mail. Then it are supposed to be processed, and so on and so on. These people actually does not have a common data base! In this day and age!


Thomas Smith

Thomas Smith

In trying to relate how Sweden's taxes match up with taxes in the States, it is hard to define whether they are too high or not. In my own shopping experiences here in Sweden, it seems that everything is much more expensive, on top of the taxes being high. [No shit?]

But, in talking with friends who are from Denmark, I can honestly say that I am quite happy with the taxes here in Sweden. As far as Sweden using the taxes in the best interests of the country, I think that I would need to be here a while longer to fairly give an opinion on the subject. I do believe that, all in all, the Swedish government tries to do what is best for its citizens, but just like in the USA there is always room for improvement. [See above]


Igor Trisic

Igor Trisic

Many Swedes have told me that taxes in Sweden are fairly high but most of them are happy to pay them. For me, that is not a surprise since people can clearly see that their tax money makes a difference through arguably the most generous social security system in the world. See remarks abowe. Also, the ones to reap the fruits of "the most generous security systems in the world" are not indigenous Swedes.

They can see this in state of the art healthcare, good roads [HUH? Have you ever been out of the city core?] and railways, in child support and parental leave, and in well-functioning public services.

There is a fundamental question that every individual has to answer: Do you want that extra 6,000 or 7,000 kronor in your wallet or not? [Is that a trick question? Of course I would!]

If the answer is yes, than you should also be aware that you will have to pay for your own medical treatment, for example, while your housing support would be gone and of course many other features of the Swedish welfare state. [But a private healthcare insurance would only cost about half of that money! Also, with lower taxes you can get by with a lot less money. I really don't know what this guy is babbeling about.]

That’s why many Swedes would never take that money even if it was offered to them. It is safe to say that Swedish society made its decision a long time ago and I completely agree with the choices they have made. [Gah! It's called indoctrination! There are a lot of low tax countries out there where the people seems to get by just fine. Switzerland and Luxemburg or why not USA are fine examples]


Katarina Johnsson

Katarina Johnsson

Taxes in Sweden are indeed high when you add them up. There are “arbetsgivaravgifter” – fees that employers have to pay, and income tax for wage earners. Then you still have to pay VAT, property tax etc, etc. on the taxed money you do receive. [Yupp- Smart girl. We even have taxes on taxes!]

On the other hand, you get a lot for your taxes in Sweden. A safety net to fall back on if the wheels fall off, free schooling and university, a decent public transport system and access to free healthcare. I am really noticing the difference since moving back from the UK. [See remarks above]

I would however want to have a little bit more transparency regarding how and where Sweden’s tax revenue is used, rather than adhering to the “black hole” principle. I also see a lot of room for simplification of the system, such as introducing a capital gains allowance that is not taxed and allowing the first 50,000 kronor of income to be tax free. [Smart girl]


Daniel Nyström

Daniel Nyström

Yes and no. In general our taxes are well founded and provide a security net and services that are either not available or very expensive in other countries. [See the remarks above]

We do however have examples of (in my opinion) idiotic taxes, such as the "Robin Hood" tax for living in Stockholm and the "Trängselskatt" (congestion charge) for going to and from my workplace. To me, these are examples of failure and are the work of weak, dishonest politicians. [DUH!]

Other than this, you might question what our tax money is used for sometimes, like when the government decides to use it to implement surveillance of all citizens’ data and phone traffic. But more often than not the money is spent in a good way. [DUH! and WHAT?]


Emma Chataway

Emma Chataway

To answer the straight away – no. Although this doesn’t mean I wouldn’t flinch if they were increased. [?]

I think it’s much easier answering that question from an unemployed point of view. However, my Swedish boyfriend works full time and grumbles about tax quite often. Especially straight after buying a full fare bus or train ticket he’s quick to say that, since he pays more than enough in tax, transport should be free. [That last sentence is so stupid, I don't know even when to begin]

I agree, but I also think that the transport here is well ordered and that they didn’t accomplish this by twiddling their thumbs or running twenty minutes behind the bus timetable, which I’ve experienced back in Australia. [I agree. On a local plane- in the bigger cities- the public transportation are quite good. On the other hand; try to make a travel between the east and the west coast. The last time I did that I had to make five changes and it took five hours fortyfive minutes to make a 200 Km trip.]

Also, I love that Sweden offers several educational opportunities for immigrants like myself, even if SFI doesn’t work for everyone. From my point of view, taxpayers’ money does support the people in this society and when I finally get a job I’ll make an effort not to grumble about it too much. [Ok!]


Athanassia Fourla

Athanassia Fourla


They say that in life "nothing is certain but death and taxes" and this could not be truer than in Sweden. Swedish taxation is one the highest in the European Union. However, there is a big return on the money paid for taxes. Coming myself from a country with a lot lower taxes but also a lot lower return on the tax money in terms of services, I find taxation in Sweden very reasonable. [No- we have the second highest taxes IN THE WORLD. Only Denmark surpasses us now after the center-right government won the election. As for low tax countries, see my remarks above]

I believe that in general tax money is invested well. One has good, free healthcare, [No we have NOT!] unemployment benefits, social care, child benefits etc [Which all are not "free", especially not the unemployment benifits. You pay for it all even if you don't need it or use it- The social care system is a joke. You have to be a drug abuser or an immigrant to get any social wellfare (or a single parent). When I was studying at the university and rather unexpectedly was blessed with a son, I took a sabbathical year to care for him. I had no job or other means of income so I went to the social wellfare office to ask for some help until I got on my feets again. A micro loan would have suited me fine. But noo! I was not granted any help or money because I still was enrolled at the university, even though I did not take any classes. - do I have to give up my place at the medical school to get some help? I asked. The lady behind the desk just shrugged her shoulders and said -Yes!]. Although the Swedish social care system is not as robust as it used to be it is still very much ahead. I do not feel sulky at all when paying taxes I know that I get value for my money. [Really. In what way? If Sweden would be a state in the USA; we would be considered the poorest one.

Wellfare and wealth is NOT the same thing. But people (on the left hand sxcale of politics) just don't seem to understand it! A "robust" wellfare" system does not mean that people are wealthier. How hard can that be to understand?]

The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

Oh my

Palestinian rocket fire on the western Negev continued Friday, with five Kassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip throughout the day.



Rescue workers run at the...

Rescue workers run at the scene of a Kassam rocket attack in Sderot. [file]
Photo: AP



One rocket landed in Sderot, and the other four landed in open areas near the city. No casualties or damage were reported in the attacks.

Also Friday, two mortar shells fired from the northern Gaza Strip landed in the Eshkol region. No casualties or damage were reported.

On Thursday, a Kassam rocket landed near Sderot, causing no casualties or damage.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated across the Strip on Friday, protesting settler violence in Hebron. The demonstrations were reportedly organized by Hamas.



Oh my, "palestinians" are demonstrating over "settler violence". By god. They don't even know how to pronaunce "palestinian". And still they have the supremasistic thought that they "own" the land.



Sorry, I'm still heavilly drugged down. It's funny- the morphine makes you drowsy but I can't sleep!

20081204

Homeless

Coming back from surgery and I'm heavilly drugged with Morphine derivates so excuse me if I'm not cohorent.

The leftists want to highten the taxes if they win the next election. The usual excuse is the Keynsian-socialistic thinking of redistribution of wealth. Take from the rich- give it to the poor.
At first hand it sounds nobel.

But what really happens?

Heavy taxation of [all] people will not take people of the streets. That's a fact!

We got maybe a couple of thousands homeless people in Sweden. Mainly in the city areas of Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö.

Yes, we are and we should feel sorry for these people and help them.

BUT!

There are no homeless people in arctic Lapland! How come? That's a brainteaser- is it not?