The ugly face of Swedish socio-fascism


Sweden's troublesome path towards totalitarianism and intellectual conformism becomes apparent in yet another showdown of bizarre government policy. Approximately 200 students at the boarding school "Lundsberg's" in Sweden are at the moment in shock after have been informed at a press conference that the school is forced to close. This due to government directive and the students have 24 hours to clear the premises.

                       Lundberg's boarding school, a provider of high quality education in Sweden for generations, called Sweden's Eton, now forced to close for the terrible crime of non conformity.

Ms. Ann-Marie Begler, the director of the Swedish School Inspectorate, the government agency set to control the quality and safety of schools and that they fulfill their legal obligations, stated as a good Maoist that the school is forced out of business because:
1. The school doesn't uphold the culture and the values it must and
2. The school has not been able to change its culture and values and
3. Students that attend the school also live there (?).

What has brought this conformist fury down on this excellent school is an accident during initiation of two students where they got burned by irons. Now 200 students have been made homeless and have 24 hours to get out.

This is when the outlandish and bizarre consequences of Swedish government agency lingo becomes apparent. At the press conference Director Begler on the question where these students are going to go now, stated that :

"They can call the municipalities they belong to, since they are by law required to provide a place in the communal schools for these students."

Mind you now, this is a boarding school. The students are primarily children to parents of the so called elite in Sweden, they live in Dubai, Hong Kong, New York etc. Others are students that are placed in the school with the help of the authorities. Some students are in witness protection programs, victims of honor crimes, rape and so on but also victims of severe bullying in their home schools.

Yet other students are not even Swedish. There are three schools such as this in Sweden. There is SSHL which is located my home town Sigtuna and which my daughter attended, there is SSHL's sister school in Gränna and there is Lundberg's. It is not unusual that foreign parents place their children in one of these schools, much like what is the situation with the boarding schools in Switzerland and other European countries. Who are these students going to call? Their parents in Peking? Can they even arrange for something within 24 hours? The students organization has stated in a press release that they are in shock. I can relate to them, the boarding school is in the middle of no-where, surrounded by woods, where are they going to go?

This decision is nothing more than a political attack from the Swedish socio-fascist establishment in this instance represented by the department of education and minister Jan Björklund. Mr. Björklund thinks little of diversity. He has stated that he wants to close down these boarding schools altogether, one down two to go. His outspoken aim is conformity. In an interview (its in Swedish) on homeschooling he stated that he "cannot understand why one would make exception when some parents say - "now we want to do this our selves, we don't want to attend the mandatory school" I cannot understand that idea." This policy is also clearly implemented by the administrative supreme court of Sweden denying a Jewish family the right to educate their children in accordance with their faith. Perhaps WWII is already too far away.


              Minister Jan Björklund, the most current face of Swedish socio-fascism and conformist dogma

The motivation for closing the boarding school which is said to be to secure the "safety of the students" is nothing but a lame cover. Seriously, if Ms. Begler were concerned about school children's' safety this is probably the last school in Sweden that would need attention. Some examples, in St: Olof school in Sigtuna a boy stabbed a classmate several times with a knife. The school was not closed, not only that not a single person demanded that it should. In Sävar school in Umeå a 15 year old boy tried to strangle a classmate and beat him in the face - no one demanded the school to close down. In Nave school in Norrköping a 15 year old student was beat with punches in the face, shortly after another student was also assaulted - no one demanded that the school close down. Five students at Westerlundska high school covered a student in electrical tape forced him to shower and then dragged him trough the entire school. They filmed everything to be able to post it on internet - no one demanded the school to close down. Not to mention the epidemic of assaults on female students and rapes in schools in Sweden and were female students are systematically harassed, called names, degraded based on their gender and constantly in fear for assaults and sexual harassment. As far as I know, no school so far has been closed in Sweden due to systematic sexual harassment of female students.

If initiation is such a huge problem in society, then they should also close the universities, sport clubs and lets not forget the armed forces. Close them all, they have initiation rites.

Also, as in most civilized countries Sweden claims to have outlawed collective punishment. Not so when the "offenses" at hand is a different socio-cultural value system than that which is endorsed and condoned by the Swedish ministry of education and minister Björklund.

To get to the bottom with these cultural dissidents - all 200 of them age 13 -18, the government in a brutal exposition of arbitrary power have ordered all of them to clear the premises within 24 hours. The have been directed to report to their designated communal school.




                                 

Gorilla that rocks

My daughters, Anna Grace and Jeanne benefitting from the safety glass barrier between them and the gorilla at Washington National Zoo.

At Kolmården Zoo in Sweden there has been an incident with a gorilla throwing rocks at the visitors. A woman was hit in the head and was brought to the hospital with a bleeding forehead. In the Swedish daily DN, the Zoo director Marjorie Castro said to have claimed it was the first incident of its kind. In another Swedish paper Aftonbladet, several other visitors are coming forward claiming they also have been hit by rocks thrown by the gorillas. A couple of them doesn't want to come forward with their full names.

Maybe it is time to put up the kind of safety barrier that they have at Washington Zoo at Kolmården Zoo also, in order to ensure the safety of visitors. Especially for children so that they can enjoy and explore these fantastic animals close up without risking getting hurt.

My daughters were sitting just inches from the gorilla who apparently was enjoying their company. It allowed them to safely return home after a wonderful experience, instead of being traumatized.



Fukushima is a sleeping disaster


As I wrote in my blog over two years ago Japanese authorities were sugar coating the reality about the Fukushima disaster. Now BBC is reporting that Fukushima is "much worse than we were led to believe."

The problem is cultural. Ask a Japanese for something and he won't say "no", it's considered rude, he will say "it is difficult." All Japanese knows it means "no" but westerners don't.

So when the Japanese authorities in 2011 stated that something did not go according to plan, it's code for "everything is going south."

It brings into question how this disaster will affect the rest of the world, radiation spreads and is increased in the food chain causing long lasting hazardous effects. (Updated Sep. 05, 2013) South Korean regulators have banned the import of 50 fishery products from eight Japanese prefectures because of lingering concerns of radiation contamination from the crippled Fukushima power plant.


Spicing up the cave

                              Can you pass me the Garlic Mustard please?

6000 years ago people where putting spices in their food. Considering that people 6000 years ago pretty much were like people are today minus the smart-phones I'm not that surprised although its very interesting to find out what kind of spices they used.

                        Garlic Mustard, a must in every prehistoric cuisine

PLOS ONE reports that Garlic Mustard has been found in pottery 6000 years old  in Denmark and northern Germany of today and since it has little nutritional value, they assume it was added to the food for taste, as if prehistoric chefs would have any idea about nutritional values, it's not like their food was USDA branded.
                  Mammoth in coriander and Garlic Mustard sauce for dinner

An alternate explanation except for the obvious that the people of northern Europe had a taste for Garlic Mustard would be that it was used for ceremonial or religious purposes. It is not unusual that food is connected with religion or deities. Apple, lamb, wine, cows, corn, bread etc...


Apparently the oldest find of the use of spices is from Israel where people 23 000 years ago enjoyed coriander in their food. Basically gourmet cooking can trace its roots back to Israel then. Sorry France, but 23 000 years head start is a pretty convincing argument.

Who Wants to Live Forever?

If a fountain of youth existed, would you bathe in it? That's what Drew Magary prods us to consider in his novel The Postmortal. A "cure"for aging is discovered wherein your genetic code can be altered, essentially freezing you at a certain age. You can still be killed, but you won't age.

The Postmortal was the book that all incoming first-year students were to read before arriving on campus this weekend. Yesterday morning we heard Drew deliver a wonderful talk about the book to all 5,000 or so freshmen. He talked of owning our regrets, learning from them, and making the most of our life despite (or because of?) the "mistakes" we make along the way. Afterward I gathered with 25 new students to discuss the book.

What would an ageless life be like? How would it affect your relationships, platonic, familial, and romantic? How would you approach work and leisure? Would it change how you act on your interests or passions?

As I often do, I turn to the musician-philosophers to help me think through such weight matters. Freddie Mercury and Brian May ask, "Who wants to live forever?"


And Danny Elfman answers, "No one lives forever!"


The book is a provocative reminder to live in the present and make the most of each day. The Grim Reaper may chase you, but the fun is in making the most of your life while outrunning him.