Can we talk about Sweden for a bit?
Discussion
Some of the Swedish municipalities are actively encouraging people to move there because they need more workers. There seems to be a lot of investment in infrastructure and housing at the moment in certain parts of the country.
Incidentally, we were in Gothenburg the other week. There have always been loads of beggars there, but this time there were noticeably more - and these days they come up to you and ask for money (which I don't recall many doing in Stockholm). And when you escape from the beggars, the chuggers pester you instead. Which is a bloody nuisance. I had my son with me, who doesn't speak Swedish, so presumably they heard us speaking English and decided we'd be a soft touch.
I used to quite like Gothenburg, but they need to do something about the persistent hassling of people. The beggars - okay, up to a point. You can see why they're doing it. But the chuggers?
Incidentally, we were in Gothenburg the other week. There have always been loads of beggars there, but this time there were noticeably more - and these days they come up to you and ask for money (which I don't recall many doing in Stockholm). And when you escape from the beggars, the chuggers pester you instead. Which is a bloody nuisance. I had my son with me, who doesn't speak Swedish, so presumably they heard us speaking English and decided we'd be a soft touch.
I used to quite like Gothenburg, but they need to do something about the persistent hassling of people. The beggars - okay, up to a point. You can see why they're doing it. But the chuggers?
You also have to wonder how this will play out in Britain if UKIP do get as influential as SD seem to have. Our voting system makes that very difficult, but there's already talk of a Labour-Conservative coalition here. What can that possibly be except a lockout of the smaller parties?
The begging and charity muggers situation has got totally out of control, problem is the lefties won't do anything about it.
On my way home from work in Gothenburg I probably get approached 4 or 5 times by beggars or chuggers, I tell the chuggers to do one and the beggars I just ignore. But is so tempting to tell both to get a job!
On my way home from work in Gothenburg I probably get approached 4 or 5 times by beggars or chuggers, I tell the chuggers to do one and the beggars I just ignore. But is so tempting to tell both to get a job!
AJS- said:
You also have to wonder how this will play out in Britain if UKIP do get as influential as SD seem to have. Our voting system makes that very difficult, but there's already talk of a Labour-Conservative coalition here. What can that possibly be except a lockout of the smaller parties?
SD doesn't have any influence at all, especially not in the immigration/integration politics, none of the other parties are even talking with them. Whether that is true democracy or not, now that's a completely different story.What is true though, is that SD has doubled their backing for the last three elections, and there seems to be no stopping them. Either 13% of the Swedish population are racists, or then there is something wrong with the politics in general and immigration/integration politics in particular.
AJS- said:
You also have to wonder how this will play out in Britain if UKIP do get as influential as SD seem to have. Our voting system makes that very difficult, but there's already talk of a Labour-Conservative coalition here. What can that possibly be except a lockout of the smaller parties?
http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2015/01/are...Stevanos said:
The begging and charity muggers situation has got totally out of control, problem is the lefties won't do anything about it.
You know, you cannot legislate against poverty...I've often wondered why there are no car park car washers here as in the UK, surely that would get you more money in a day than sitting outside ICA rattling a tin of coins at passers by? But of course, how would the state get its taxes and fees then.
Let me tell you about Sweden,
Only country where the clouds are interesting,
Too much time to think to little to do,
Cuz it's all quiet on the Eastern front...
Fluctuation's at a minimum,
Hypochondriac tombstone,
Sense of humours gone astray somewhere,
Too much time to think to little to do...
Only country where the clouds are interesting,
Too much time to think to little to do,
Cuz it's all quiet on the Eastern front...
Fluctuation's at a minimum,
Hypochondriac tombstone,
Sense of humours gone astray somewhere,
Too much time to think to little to do...
SGirl said:
Some of the Swedish municipalities are actively encouraging people to move there because they need more workers. There seems to be a lot of investment in infrastructure and housing at the moment in certain parts of the country.
Incidentally, we were in Gothenburg the other week. There have always been loads of beggars there, but this time there were noticeably more - and these days they come up to you and ask for money (which I don't recall many doing in Stockholm). And when you escape from the beggars, the chuggers pester you instead. Which is a bloody nuisance. I had my son with me, who doesn't speak Swedish, so presumably they heard us speaking English and decided we'd be a soft touch.
I used to quite like Gothenburg, but they need to do something about the persistent hassling of people. The beggars - okay, up to a point. You can see why they're doing it. But the chuggers?
Funnily enough I was just down my the water in Trollhättan and was approached by a Turkish guy who just pointed at a board that looked like he was collecting for charity. I just said I don't speak Swedish and walked off and he followed us for about 5 minutes and then turned around. Very odd, hadn't experienced that before.Incidentally, we were in Gothenburg the other week. There have always been loads of beggars there, but this time there were noticeably more - and these days they come up to you and ask for money (which I don't recall many doing in Stockholm). And when you escape from the beggars, the chuggers pester you instead. Which is a bloody nuisance. I had my son with me, who doesn't speak Swedish, so presumably they heard us speaking English and decided we'd be a soft touch.
I used to quite like Gothenburg, but they need to do something about the persistent hassling of people. The beggars - okay, up to a point. You can see why they're doing it. But the chuggers?
xjsdriver said:
It's just a case of you get what you pay for....they pay a bit more in tax....and quite rightly get more in the way of social care - from cradle to grave (including the cost of burial).......
I've no children so not entirely sure how it all works, but if your brother lives in Malmö I'm fairly certain he'll be paying nursery fees. Similarly, funerals are anything but free. The entire education system is by any possible definition a total disaster, the healthcare system is hugely overburdened and people are either dying waiting for treatment or paying through their noses to skip the queues (unless they've seen the light and got themselves a private insurance), municipalities are increasingly starting to charge for ambulance trips, infrastructure is crumbling and toll roads/bridges are seemingly the way forward, national defence is non-existent and the police are a bit of a joke.
Yesterday our cupid stunt of a finance minister declared that tax hikes are coming in order to finance investments in said non-existent national defence (a good idea seeing as our feminist foreign policy stance seems to have upset Russia). A whopping £300m over 2016-2020! Meanwhile, the Migration Board alone (small fry in the grand scheme of immigration costs) will burn a £15B-sized hole in the budget during the same period.
Not really what I'd call value for money.
Looket said:
I've no children so not entirely sure how it all works, but if your brother lives in Malmö I'm fairly certain he'll be paying nursery fees. Similarly, funerals are anything but free.
The entire education system is by any possible definition a total disaster, the healthcare system is hugely overburdened and people are either dying waiting for treatment or paying through their noses to skip the queues (unless they've seen the light and got themselves a private insurance), municipalities are increasingly starting to charge for ambulance trips, infrastructure is crumbling and toll roads/bridges are seemingly the way forward, national defence is non-existent and the police are a bit of a joke.
Yesterday our cupid stunt of a finance minister declared that tax hikes are coming in order to finance investments in said non-existent national defence (a good idea seeing as our feminist foreign policy stance seems to have upset Russia). A whopping £300m over 2016-2020! Meanwhile, the Migration Board alone (small fry in the grand scheme of immigration costs) will burn a £15B-sized hole in the budget during the same period.
Not really what I'd call value for money.
Yeah but you only live there. XJS has ideology on his side, so there.The entire education system is by any possible definition a total disaster, the healthcare system is hugely overburdened and people are either dying waiting for treatment or paying through their noses to skip the queues (unless they've seen the light and got themselves a private insurance), municipalities are increasingly starting to charge for ambulance trips, infrastructure is crumbling and toll roads/bridges are seemingly the way forward, national defence is non-existent and the police are a bit of a joke.
Yesterday our cupid stunt of a finance minister declared that tax hikes are coming in order to finance investments in said non-existent national defence (a good idea seeing as our feminist foreign policy stance seems to have upset Russia). A whopping £300m over 2016-2020! Meanwhile, the Migration Board alone (small fry in the grand scheme of immigration costs) will burn a £15B-sized hole in the budget during the same period.
Not really what I'd call value for money.
Never mind all of that...what about the eating and drinking?? I'm going next month for first time in decades (I have Swedish ancestry) and the first thing I did was get on tripadvisor to see what the best restaurants and pubs are. Even in a reasonable town like 10k people ....virtually nothing compared to Blighty.
I asked my cousins what were the chances of grabbing a taxi out from our farm house we're staying in, into town, find a bar, onto a restaurant etc. They just laughed and said 'OR, you could stay in and watch the grass grow...maybe count some cows'
And then there the state controlled booze shopss...criminal!
I asked my cousins what were the chances of grabbing a taxi out from our farm house we're staying in, into town, find a bar, onto a restaurant etc. They just laughed and said 'OR, you could stay in and watch the grass grow...maybe count some cows'
And then there the state controlled booze shopss...criminal!
Stevanos said:
The begging and charity muggers situation has got totally out of control, problem is the lefties won't do anything about it.
On my way home from work in Gothenburg I probably get approached 4 or 5 times by beggars or chuggers, I tell the chuggers to do one and the beggars I just ignore. But is so tempting to tell both to get a job!
Lots of them have left parts of Norway as very few people carry any cash on them. Everything is card transaction. A taxi driver I had last month had to go up and down a whole queue of taxis to get change for me as even they don't carry much cash.On my way home from work in Gothenburg I probably get approached 4 or 5 times by beggars or chuggers, I tell the chuggers to do one and the beggars I just ignore. But is so tempting to tell both to get a job!
The beggars made next to feck all.
So, I suppose I should say something about the latest in a never-ending cycle of shootings between ethnic Swe... oh wait. But I won't, because yawn.
Instead I'm going to laugh at our Dear Leader who has generously gifted us a bit of pure comedy gold:
https://www.facebook.com/stefanlofven/photos/a.649...
Mr. Blobfish says:
'Today I visited a care home for orphaned refugee children. The youngsters told me about their daily lives and ambitions for the future - which included programmers and CEOs. We spoke a lot about the importance of education, experience and starting work. An incredibly driven gang with a lot to contribute!'
Don't your hearts just bleed? Yes, mine too - to the tune of £300 a day per orphan.
In other news, this is the new Swedish ID card standard:
Instead I'm going to laugh at our Dear Leader who has generously gifted us a bit of pure comedy gold:
https://www.facebook.com/stefanlofven/photos/a.649...
Mr. Blobfish says:
'Today I visited a care home for orphaned refugee children. The youngsters told me about their daily lives and ambitions for the future - which included programmers and CEOs. We spoke a lot about the importance of education, experience and starting work. An incredibly driven gang with a lot to contribute!'
Don't your hearts just bleed? Yes, mine too - to the tune of £300 a day per orphan.
In other news, this is the new Swedish ID card standard:
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