Riots in Stockholm

"Riots in Stockholm Spread to More Suburbs":

STOCKHOLM (AP) -- Groups of youth have smashed shop windows, set cars ablaze and burnt down a cultural center as the riots that started in one Stockholm suburb after a fatal police shooting spread to other low-income areas of the Swedish capital.

 . . .

 [Police spokesman] Lindgren says 30 vehicles were set ablaze in six suburbs where mainly immigrants live. Gangs of up to 60 youths also set fire to a school and a nursery and hurled rocks at police and fire fighters.

The unrest began Sunday in response to the May 13 shooting, in which police killed a 69-year-old, knife-wielding man in a northwestern suburb.

"Groups of youth", huh?  A story at TheLocal.se identifies them also only as "youths".  Good try, you guys, but at this point, is there anyone who doesn't know what "youths" is code for, in stories of riots, violence, etc.?

(Incidentally, one thing I will never, ever understand is why these types of gangs always seem to destroy their own neighborhoods.  Um, you live there.  It might not be the best part of town to begin with, but how is trashing the place going to improve your situation?  Come next week, chances are you and your family will still be living and working in the same community-- which you have just further degraded.  Of course, the kind of people who do these things aren't exactly the brainy bunch...)


From TheLocal.se:

"You have to see what happened from a wider point of view. It's not the first time something like this has happened, and it's not the last. This is the kind of reaction when there isn't equality between people, which is the case in Sweden," Rami al-Khamisi, a law student and founder of local youth organization Megafonen, told The Local.

On Monday, local newspaper editor Rouzbeh Djalaie said the shooting probably provided the spark.

"There's frustration in Husby and it risks spiralling out of control. People want long-term solutions to social problems instead of an increased police presence," Djalaie told The Local. 

Yes, of course; it's all Sweden's fault. (...For letting these hooligans into the country to begin with, you mean, right...?)  After all, Sweden is so well known for its inequality.  It's not like Sweden makes itself ridiculous by bending over backward to avoid even the appearance of inequality.  Nuh-uh.  Nope.  They just revel in a veritable orgy of inequality, in Sweden.  Known for it around the world! (Ouch! Concentrated sarcasm burns...) 


From the same article:

Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt commented on the matter in a press conference at the Riksdag on Tuesday afternoon.

"We've had two nights with great unrest, damage, and an intimidating atmosphere in Husby and there is a risk it will continue," he said.

"We have groups of young men who think that that they can and should change society with violence. Let's be clear: This is not OK. We cannot be ruled by violence."

Well, good luck, because I have a strong feeling you're going to need it. It might help if more people spoke up against the political correctness on steroids that currently has a stranglehold on the nation.  

And this shooting that supposedly started the rioting?  Yeah, sounds like it was a terrible loss to the community.  I'm sure the woman the police were trying to protect when they shot the innocent individual knife/machete-wielding lunatic would also call it a use of excessive force.


ETA: 
'Multiculturalism failing': Swedish PM pleas for order as riots engulf Stockholm suburbs
The headline makes it look (to me) like the Swedish PM says multiculturalism is failing, which is not accurate.  It's actually a quote from the chairman of the Swedish National Democrats Party.  Still, there's some interesting material that the other articles I linked didn't include.

Al Jazeera, on the other hand, covers the story this way:

Police in Sweden have arrested six people after a second night of escalating riots in a Stockholm suburb.

On Monday night, aboout 200 people took part in demonstrations following the fatal police shooting of a 69-year-old man.

The unrest is shining a spotlight on how Sweden treats immigrants.

Completely unbiased-- just as you'd expect from Al Jazeera.   Ha!  "Shining a spotlight on how Sweden treats immigrants"!   (!!!) 

Some of you (out there in my vast audience of... two? three? ;o)) are probably wondering why I'm getting all het up about this.  I hope I'm not coming across as an obnoxious American trying to teach Sweden how to "do better", because the U.S. is sitting pretty and has it all figured out.  (I wish.  Goodness knows we have our own problems.  Too many to enumerate, too close to home.)  I'm well aware that I'm no expert-- yet from what I hear from Donald about current events in Sweden, I feel safe wagering that I know more about Sweden than the average American... and this story just makes me mad. 

If you knew how completely, painfully PC the media is in Sweden!  You think it's bad here?  Ha ha ha... We're getting there, but (on certain subjects, at least) they have it worse.  If you heard the ridiculous stories of the "child refugees" who are obviously grown men-- the shameful waste of resources on people who should be taking care of themselves-- the stubborn unwillingness to admit that there might possibly be a problem.  And then people have the gall to say that Sweden hasn't done enough for them?  That there is inequality?  That it's time to shine a spotlight on "how Sweden treats immigrants"?  Good ga-rief!  Sweden seems to treat its immigrants better than it treats its natives!  It. Makes. Me. Furious.  And I don't even live there!! 

...So.  Anyway.  That's why I was stirred past my usual "post nothing but the occasional flurry of photos" filter, today.  Outrage.  Now back to our regularly scheduled photos of plants and drywall.  ;o)

Political(ish) AGAIN.

(I know, I know.  Twice in one day.  I should be ashamed.)


This time it's about this. 

Look, Matt, what it boils down to is this: You're just plain wrong. 
(Calm down; you should be used to that by now.)

No, the "First Kids" are most certainly not more important than any other kids-- or any other people, period.  They are not more important to the country than anyone else's kids. 

Would it be bigger news if they were kidnapped (to use your example)?  Yes, obviously.  Would there be a bigger reaction-- larger scale, more costly, etc.?  Well, duh.  However, I think it's safe to say that if a celebrity's child were kidnapped, that would also get a bigger reaction than the abduction of the average kid down the street.  Are you also willing to say that a celebrity's child is more important to the country than any other American child?  (I hope not, but who knows...)

So no, they're not more important. 
(Idiot.)

Voter Fraud of the Worst Kind

Concerns raised over possible exploitation of mentally disabled voters.

Jimmy Green's stepdaughter had never voted before. The 57-year-old is mentally disabled, and Green said she doesn't understand the concept of casting a ballot.

But this week, she called her parents to say she had voted for President Obama. The care home in Fayetteville where she lives registered its residents to vote and drove them to the polls, Green said.

"My concern is that somebody told her who to vote for," he said. "She didn't even know there's two different parties."

 That is just sickening. 

POLITITCS

I've been (mostly) resisting any urges to post politically themed rants or links, because I assume that most of you who read this fall into one or more of these categories:

1.  You're already familiar with the information, and you likely agree with most of the points I'd try to make.

2.  You may or may not be familiar with the information, but you've already made up your mind and are unlikely to be swayed by anything I can say.

3.  You aren't an American citizen, so you can't vote in our elections, anyway.


...But I have (of course) been following the news and watching the debates, because I think the upcoming election is extremely important. So, even though it's essentially pointless, I may still occasionally spout political opinions (even as I gradually cease "following" people whose own repeated political comments have driven my blood pressure through the roof for the last time)...

I may mention (belatedly) that during the VP debate, Biden's insane grin and (rudely interruptive) laughing reminded me of the Joker long before I heard anyone else say so. ;o)

I may growl about Obama's ill-earned smug self-satisfaction.  ("UGH.  Someone pass me a barf-bag!  I may be about to break my decades(?)-long no-barf streak*...")

I may question who was responsible for selecting Candy Crowley. (I'm sure I could find out, but why bother?  The damage-- if any-- is done, and it was predictable.  I just don't get why the Republicans can't fight a little harder to get a more neutral moderator!)




* I honestly don't remember the last time I "got sick".  (Um, sorry to those of you with weak stomachs...)  I'm pretty sure it was before the teen years...  This long absence of cookie-tossing has been a blessing and a curse.  ;o)  A blessing, because-- well, that should be obvious.  A curse, because it's been so long that I now have a special horror of it and know that my "streak" can only last so long.  All good things must come to an end.  (g)  Weird things, too-- like this post.

This Screwed Up World We Live In

A woman wants an abortion? 
Well, it's her body, her right to choose.  Don't badger her!  Don't try to counsel her against it!  How dare you interfere in something so personal?!

A woman wants to feed her newborn on formula?
She must be given a "talking-to" and shamed for her awful, toxic choice.  After all, though we must grudgingly accept that the final decision of how to feed their babies is up to mothers, "it's our job to educate them on the best option." 

Disgusting Excuses for Human Beings

(With a post title like that, you know I'm in a good mood this morning!  Actually, I was... and still am, apart from my reactions to the news, including this dismal reminder of the existence of evil people.)

Re: "Woman killed after confronting men in car about speeding in West Mobile":

Some people simply don't deserve to live... and sadly, right now I feel that also applies to some of the idiots in the comment section for that story, too.   

The Final Frontier, Here I Come...?

Darn it.  I was really hoping I wouldn't have to become one of those space colonists.  I don't even like to fly, and the thought of leaving behind the whole planet really just doesn't appeal-- but the way things are going down here, lately... 

You space colony organizers better get a move on.

Losers.

(Warning:  Today I am on a grumping rampage.)

Here's the story, and here's the video:


 
Oh yeah, they're really concerned about the children.  I tell you one thing, if one of those kids near that shouting, angry man had been my son or daughter, I would not have been happy, and Mr. Idiot would've heard about it.  I know that if I'd been one of those kids with some big, angry stranger standing right next to me, shouting, I'd have been terrified.  (Ok, I'd still be scared, even as an adult.  Some people are crazy, and you never know what some complete stranger might be capable of doing, so small warning signs like yelling tend to make me nervous.)  Maybe he wasn't directing his comments to the kids, but to the adults behind them, but I doubt all the kids really understood what was going on.

It's disgraceful.

Also, to all those people who are so appalled to see children "used" this way for political purpose, what about this?



Or this?



And remember, the whole reason those kids were singing "God Bless the USA" at this protest was because they were banned from singing it at a graduation ceremony, because some stupid individual was afraid immigrants would be offended. (Never mind that apparently many immigrants with children in the school wanted the song to be sung.)

I'm sick to death of this bizarre idea that we should celebrate the different cultures of the world / multiculturalism in our own country but somehow simultaneously be ashamed of our own culture.  As if expressing pride in one's own country is an insult to everyone else!

You know what?  I'm not especially proud of my country-- or at least our modern, declining culture-- when I see absolute utter crap like this happening.  What's wrong with these people?

Sad State of Affairs

Here's a blog (in English) for anyone interested in the increasing problems Sweden faces-- the politically incorrect news that is often ignored even in Sweden itself.

Caution: May cause feelings of impotent outrage and disgust with politicians and "journalists" who seek to obfuscate rather than elucidate.

Vote This Way, Gramma.

I remember hearing about this type of thing, back in 2008-- and this isn't the first time I've heard about it this time around, either.  The gist is that "the young" are supposed to go around explaining to their elders-- grandparents and great-grandparents especially, it seems-- that they should vote for Obama. 

Michelle Obama, speaking to a group of approximately two dozen youths in a group of 350 (at a fundraising event with a ticket price of $500 each):

“I mean, I can’t tell you in the last election how many grandparents I ran into who said, I wasn’t going to vote for Barack Obama until my grandson talked to me, until my great-grandson talked to me, and talked about the future he wanted for this country.

“You can get out there with your parents. You guys can knock on doors. I had one young lady who brought me a petition — she’s already working. You can convince wrong people. Sometimes we don’t listen to ourselves, but we will listen to our children.”

Ugh.

When I was a child, I was taught to treat my grandparents with respect-- not to "give them a talking to" regarding their political positions-- not to (incorrectly) assume that they were too feeble-minded to have already been following the news and making up their own minds about how to vote.

(Also, "wrong people"?  *snort*)

Sweden in the News, Today...

"Wave of shootings baffle Swedish police."

Look, I don't even live in Sweden, yet it's not that baffling to me-- not once you consider that these execution-style shootings are happening in Malmö.  (And I guess that's all I'll say about that...)

Every now and then, Donald tells me about something he reads in the Swedish news (or the oftentimes more reliable independent news blogs), and what I hear is troubling, if not downright infuriating.  I think I'm more upset on behalf of Sweden than many Swedes are, themselves, because it's not politically correct to be outraged at the abuse of the Swedish welfare system and the impending destruction of Swedish culture as we know it. 

Political correctness run amok.  

. . . Don't Even Know What to Say

. . . Is this woman for real?  (Yes, unfortunately, I'm pretty sure she is.)  If there are many more like her out there, no wonder we're headed to hell in a handbasket.  Lady, please, please tell me you don't vote.  (Please?)

Warning:  This might make you angry, fill you with despair for the future of our nation, or just generally ruin a perfectly good Thursday.  Watch at your own risk. 

Ms. Maxy and the Entitlement Mentality

On a Darker Note...

This infuriates me, every time I think about it.

I don't understand how the concept of dogs being "unclean" animals ever came to be.  It's just... unfathomable to me.  How can anyone believe that an animal-- a whole species-- is not only categorically "unclean", but even deserves to be tortured?  They believe that dogs were created by their religion's god, correct?  (I assume.  I know little about their religious beliefs.)  Why do at least some of them believe their god would make something so entirely despicable as to deserve such treatment?   It's barbaric-- it's inhuman and inhumane-- it's just downright stupid-- and it fills me with white-hot rage and hatred (sorry, I'm not perfect) for anyone capable of such cruelty.  

Again, I don't know about that religion, but as a Christian, I can't believe that God would smile upon the torture of any animal.  (And there's a big difference between killing and torturing, to explain why I eat meat, use leather, etc.)

That story... It's enough to turn your stomach.

"A Large, Amoral, Brutalised Sub-Culture"

"UK riots 2011:  Liberal dogma has spawned a generation of amoral, uneducated, welfare dependent, brutalised youth."

I have to agree, and unfortunately, we're facing many of the same problems, here.

Just to Say...

This is just to say that I am (nobly ;o)) fighting the urge to copy, paste, and reply to some of the nonsense I've read on Twitter this morning regarding Obama's speech last night and the general debt limit increase... and taxes... and how you are evil and selfish and Just Plain Bad if you don't want to pay more taxes... and how apparently the rich aren't paying their "fair share" (which is probably impossible for them ever to do to the satisfaction of everyone else).  According to some, if you are rich, you should be paying more taxes than poor people.  (What a novel idea.)  Thing is, I thought the rich already were (and are) paying more in taxes than the poor... This is puzzling, because I keep hearing something about how the top 1% of taxpayers earn 20% of all income, yet pay nearly 40% of all taxes.  And then you have 51% of wage earners who pay no federal income taxes at all!  It certainly seems like the rich would already be paying (much) more than the poor...  I must just not be smart enuff to figger out how all them newfangled math'matics and percentigers work.  Or sumthin'.

*sigh*
Replying to such nonsense here wouldn't do any real good, of course, because the people who wrote those things won't ever see this, and even if they did, I seriously doubt I could ever get through to them.  Yet I'm too non-confrontational (and cognizant of the fact that it wouldn't do a thing except maybe make me angry and sick and jittery) to reply directly to them.  Oh well.  Such is life.  Class warfare is easy.  Rich people are BAD people (so why does everyone want more moolah?)! Why trouble our pretty little heads about anything of more substance?

To Be Filed Under "Who Gives a Crap?"

I apologize for being crass, but really, who does think this is a worthy investment?

Your Tax Dollars at Work

Thank goodness we're paying our Fair Share™, 'cause this is important work they're doing with our taxes.  It's a huge relief to know that the federal government is on the cutting edge of such vital research.  Our lives will be infinitely improved by this study, for sure.

News Snippets

Snippet the First:

Former presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) thinks he could have done a good job leading the country.

“I would have been a good president,” he said Wednesday on Fox Business Network’s “Imus in the Morning.” “Maybe even a great one.”

 Well, it's good that he's managed to stay so humble after all those years in politics...


Snippet the Second:

Speaking of/to a group of illegal aliens in the U.S., Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said this:  "When I look around this room, I see America's future. Our doctors, our teachers, our nurses, our engineers, our scientists, our soldiers, our Congressman, our Senators and maybe our President."

Um, yeah... About that... Not really, unless you plan on rewriting the Constitution.  ...Then again, I'm sure you'd have no problem with that, would you, Mr. Durbin?  Let's just throw the whole d--n thing out and start from fresh, right?  It's so out-dated, anyway.


Snippet the Third:

A foreign national who flew from New York to Los Angeles last week with a stolen boarding pass and ID card has been arrested at Los Angeles International Airport, according to federal authorities.

Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi, a Nigerian-born man who was found with the stolen ID and up to 10 old boarding passes containing various names, was arrested Wednesday after attempting to board a flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta; five days after passing through layers of airport security at New York's JFK airport to board a plane with a day-old boarding pass. 

I guess the TSA is too busy checking babies' diapers and humiliating terminally ill women in their 90s to worry about little things like, oh, boarding passes.  (Gah!)  Seriously, guys.  He didn't have the correct ID.  The pass wasn't for the right date.  It wasn't even the right flight number! 

I want to know what this guy was doing.  Why did he even want to fly all over the place?  Was he just taking a cross-country vacation, or is there more to the story?  In any case, the honchos at the TSA have a lot of nerve expecting travelers to meekly accept all the crap they're put through when the TSA can't get a simple thing like this right.

"Culturally Backward"?! Excuse Me?

From NewsBusters (with video):

"Chris Matthews determined that Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner could be in danger of being forced out of Congress by Blue Dog Dems who face uphill battles in red states because, as he put it, 'people in the rural areas of this country who are Christian conservative culturally - you can say backward if you want...don't like this kind of stuff.'

...Yeah, because it's so "backward" to believe that a married man should be faithful-- in thought and deed-- to his wife. (Weiner's outright lies-- before he decided he had no choice but to confess and apologize-- when he was "caught" were a classy, oh-so-admirable move, too, for those who would argue that his personal life shouldn't have any effect on his political life.)  But what can you expect from Chris Matthews?  Every time you turn around, he's saying something like this.

ETA:  Wow.  I haven't paid much attention to Weiner before the recent scandal, but apparently the guy is not only a liar and a cheater, but also an incredible jerk.  He's the kind of person you feel you could cheerfully strangle (especially after watching that collection of clips).  But, hey, other than that, he seems like a really nice guy.  No wonder so many women have found him so enthralling.  (Gag.)

Three Things

Thing One:
For those keeping track, I am a very bad photo-blogger, but I have been taking at least one photo a day, and eventually I'll make myself upload them.  Maybe.  (Meh, we'll see.)


Thing Two:
"New report finds medical costs to rise 8.5 percent in 2012"

Oh boy. Thank you, Obamacare!


Thing Three:
In lighter news, the CDC warns the public to prepare for a "Zombie Apocalypse". (Sort of.)

Well, You Can't Make Everyone Happy...

Apparently, some Islamic scholars "criticize" Osama bin Laden's burial at sea as a "violation of Islamic tradition".  And then there are others-- myself, for example-- who did a double take at the news that he was buried at sea at least partially to comply with some Islamic law that dead bodies be buried within 24 hours of death.

Um, 'scuse me a moment... What?!

Ok, I get the whole "no nation would have wanted his body, and we didn't want to give them the chance to make a 'shrine' of a specific burial spot" aspect-- so fine, burial in a non-disclosed location or at sea-- but I don't really give a bleepity-bleep how he would have wanted to be buried, and personally, I'm astonished that they even took the "rules" of his religion into consideration at all.  My opinion?  Just be thankful that we're a decent enough, civilized enough nation that we didn't put his sorry carcass on display somewhere.  (M'kay?)

And the argument that this "disrespectful" sea burial will entice retaliation?  Oh, come on.  We know they're going to want to retaliate, no matter how he was disposed of.  They've wanted to kills us, all along.  That's not going to change anytime soon.  (Oops, maybe I should've labeled that with a spoiler alert...) So basically, just shut up, scholars and clerics.

Oh, and have a great day.