Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Beauty isn’t everything
Wow… out of all the women in the US, I was able to stumble across someone as great as my wife. And chances of finding a good-looking American woman as genuine and sensible as Tara are pretty slim. At least if we use the line-up of Miss America as the litmus test for what American women aspire to become…which can be summed up in one word: stupid.
Only 8 out of the 51 supposedly most beautiful women in the US say that they support evolution to be taught in schools. The rest… 43 women in all (!) say things ranging from a straight “no” to “it is just a theory” or “well, it could be taught if other theories are presented as well” and then add statements along the line of “personally, I am a Christian, so I don’t believe in evolution”. Miss WV, Miss SD, Miss CT, Miss DE and Miss DC seem to get it right. In the entire line there are in fact only three women (Miss Vermont, Miss California and Miss Washington) who seem to be ardent supporters of science. Miss Washington is also not afraid to criticize the anti-science crowd (although she gets confused over the difference between “a theory” and “a fact” but this might just be an ill-phrased attempt to dismiss bogus creationist claims). Miss Vermont’s answer is more to the point, when she makes the distinction between science (that can be tested) and religious beliefs (that cannot undergo scientific scrutiny).
I really dislike beauty pageants. So many cute little faces. So little brain inside.
Let’s just assume that we changed the question, and asked them what they think about other theories being presented in schools… like, say… the theory of gravity? Anyone? Anyone? Oh… yeah… and the year is 2011.
/Kim
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Fallera!
Warren C and Dad are pretty good at keeping up the pace on the trails in the nearby forests by singing the old Swedish tribal song "Vi gå över daggstänkta berg - fallera!". (Tribal songs are songs proclaimed to be of national interest "to instill patriotic duty in our youth in accordance with His Majesty's will", as it says in the Swedish public school ordinance from 1943.) Regardless of hiking pace, it is now getting colder. So our choice of clothing has changed. The top three images are from our hike in mid-September. The bottom pictures are from today's little journey. We're using double layers of wool (underwear and wool sweater, wool turtleneck and thick wool socks to keep warm. And of course - some hot chocolate in the thermos!
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| Gearing up for a hike in September. WC gets hydrated with a Mer fruit drink. |
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| Piggy-back riding, dressed in a sun hat, jeans and some Wellies to keep dry. |
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| Ready to go! Dad in his lumberjack plaid shirt. |
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| "Hiding" behind a tree in the woods! |
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| Keeping warm on the trail. The fall wind made the hike fairly chilly. |
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| WC in a good pace in the midst of the forest. |
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| Warren Christopher and Dad posing for the camera. |
Cars and more cars...
Saturday, October 15, 2011
90% of Americans want to live in Sweden
Watch Land of the Free, Home of the Poor on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.
If you want to learn about the difference between the United States and Sweden – please take a few minutes to watch the following videos. First off is PBS (video above), and their show ”Free or Equal”. They do a follow-up to a survey about wealth distribution where Americans seem to have little understanding of how the US really works. In order to demonstrate this, they present people in the streets with different pie charts of wealth distribution in Sweden and the US. And here are the stats: The richest 20% of Americans hold 84 percent of the nation’s wealth, whereas the financial assets of the bottom 40 percent of the population equal 0.3 percent of the entire wealth in the United States. In Sweden,on the other hand, the wealthiest 20% of the country hold 36 percent of the wealth, the top 40 % of the population hold 57 percent of the wealth. A no doubt stark difference to the US. Even more so - the bottom 40 % of Swedish households actually own 36 percent of the nation’s entire wealth! (Compared to 0.3 percent in the US!) It is obvious that Sweden has a much more equal distribution of wealth … and Americans who are asked about it just LOVE this kind of society – at least when they see the pie chart. In fact – they love it so much that they actually think that the pie chart that represents Sweden will have to be a representation of the wealth distribution in the United States. (This brings in a lot of questions about The Myth of the Rational Voter - and why democracies choose bad policies.)
What the PBS documentary does NOT say, is how a society like Sweden (which is obviously doing well today in the midst of financial turmoil) has been hampered by tough government interventions. In fact, it is only until quite recently (the past 20 years), that Sweden liberalized its economy and gained some economic traction. Still, the taxes in Sweden are very high. The municipality income tax is around 30%. The marginal tax rate is 50%, and anyone making more than $55 000 a year pays 20% in income tax on everything above that level, and another 5% taxation is placed on incomes above $78 000 (people that are referred to as the "super rich" in Sweden...). Some income taxes are hidden in the system of Swedish payroll taxes as well (at around 32%). This means that the highest possible income tax today stands at around 87% in Sweden. But Swedes who make less than $55K a year "only" pay 62% of their gross salary ... And out of your remaining net salary you still have to pay 25% in sales tax on anything you buy.
Sweden is a much more equal society than the United States, but equal does not mean better. And whatever your view is on financial redistribution and equality - bearing in mind the Swedish tax brackets, you would have to wonder how many Americans would be willing to move to Sweden if they got the whole truth behind the pie charts.
An altogether different view is the "Free to Choose" idea, that has been championed by Milton Friedman - a free market might not give us equality in distribution of income, but will let people be free to create their own future:
Free or Equal from Free To Choose Network on Vimeo.
Of course, since Sweden has not been increasing its national debt and while some Swedish industries are outsourcing their jobs to places like... the United States (!) - some Americans are waking up to what it means to have to work for their money, as opposed to just putting every expense on a credit card. The Daily Show has a great video on what IKEA is doing for American jobs:
And here are two more "insights" into what it means to have Swedish "socialism". Clearly, the old "Swedish socialism" stereotype (drummed up by Fox News) is not up-to-date with how Sweden functions today, which The Daily Show clearly demonstrates. Whether you like tall blond women or not...
And, to add some more positive views on Sweden, regardless of what you may think of Al Gore, his assessment of Sweden's ability to deal with cap and trade, recycling and other environmental programs, makes the United States look like a polluter country from the developing world.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Abstract expressionism
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| Miro's Bleu III, a reproduction of which we soon hope to have on our wall. |
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| A print poster of Jackson Pollock's Alchemy is now proudly placed in our bedroom. Yes, it is a "conversation piece"! |
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| Mark Rothko's "No 3" adds wonderful color to our hallway. |
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| A poster of Joan Miro's May 1968 painting, full off drip painting technique, is our son's favorite. |
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| Robert Motherwell's Blue painting - a great example of American 20th century art |
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| Franz Kline and his brutal paint strokes... |
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Potty time!
He indicated that he wanted to go and then we had to leave the bathroom while he sat down on the potty and made farting sounds to himself.Very cute!
Lots of praise from mommy and daddy followed, of course, and he was very proud of himself.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
We Hate Fox News!
And we should add that We Love Ron Paul! (Click link to visit his campaign homepage and support his 2012 presidential campaign - Restore America Now.)
Ron Paul is a consistent libertarian with a proven record from twelve terms in Congress. And he is able to excite the GOP base so much that - even in rural Iowa - he comes in second in a tight race. But the way Fox News and other media outlets ignore him is just deplorable. The clip above pretty much summarize the way he has been treated in the media.
It is time for a change - Ron Paul in 2012!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
First time with our son on Skåneleden
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| The family still being cheerful after a rainy day on Skåneleden and Hallandsleden. |
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| WC and Mommy starting out in the dense forest around Stavershult. |
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| Where the two trails (Skåneleden and Halandsleden) meet, we found shelter in a little lean-to where we enjoyed hot cocoa and sandwiches |
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| A dugout root cellar near a farmstead. |
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| Tara has put her raincover on the Osprey backpack. A small country road made it easy to descend from the gigantic esker ridge Hallandsåsen, formed during the ice age. |
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| Our son taking a break in the woods during another day-hike. He has milk and cookies in his own Fjällräven backpack. |
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| Very wet hiking-boots after a day in the marshland up on the trail. |
Warren taking point during a day-hike with daddy.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Gothenburg and Liseberg - lots of fun!
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| Two well-dressed gentlemen on the train. |
During the summer we left the summer cottage in Skummeslöv and headed up the west coast to Daddy's hometown of Gothenburg to visit the amusement park Liseberg.
A musical hommage to Gothenburg, the Swedish version of Liverpool - a worn down old shipyard town.
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| Dad and WC try to get some motion going on the seesaw with Hedvig and Patrik. |
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| Mom and WC at the petting zoo in Slottskogen. |
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| Two guys watching the feeding of the seals. |
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| Lots of action during feeding time. |
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| Warren driving the vintage cars "Farfarsbilar" at Liseberg amusement park. |
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| With mommy on the carousel. |
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| "I'm on a boat!" |
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| Who has the most fun here? Mommy or WC? |
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| Two bunnies at Liseberg. |
Friday, July 01, 2011
A visit to Vienna
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| Tara outside of Hofburg, the Kaiser's palace in central Vienna. |
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| Kim enjoying the sunshine in the park of Schloss Belvedère. |
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| Belvedère palace in central Vienna. |
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| Tara, after watching an hour-long training session at the paddock of the Spanish Riding School in central Vienna. |
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| Tara ordered gulasch and knödl and Kim is about to start chewing on half a boar leg and some Weissbier at a cute beerhall caled Müllerbeisl, away from the tourist district (= no server understood English). |
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| W. A. Mozart statue in the Burggarten park. |
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| During the intermission of the concert at the Musikverein. |
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| Tara going over a few books she has not yet read, at the Prunksaal, the National Archives in Vienna. |
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| Another view inside the Prunksaal. |
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| What do Trotsky, Lenin, Freud and Nietzsche have in common? They all had breakfast at Café Central in Vienna. Kim enjoyed the atmosphere with the Emperess Sisi on the painting in the background. |
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| A genuine Wienerschnitzel, served with lemon on the side, at Café Mozart, featured in Orson Welles' The Third Man. |
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Summer photos I, Båstad
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| First bath of the year. The Atlantic currents are cold as Dad is wading out into the shallow waters. But Warren and Daddy did go bathing before midsummer in 60 degree water. |
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| Swimdress/sundress on the vast beach. |
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| Tara in the sun. |
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| Kim and "W" in the sunshine. |
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| View from the mountain ridge overlooking our summer cottage. |
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| Two men watching snails in the leaf forest. |
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| Bunny-boy ready for a snack at the summer cottage. |
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| With mommy on the couch in our summer cottage. |
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| Going biking to Båstad with Dad. |
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| Two cousins splashing in the kiddie pool. |
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| Two proud dads with their kids in strollers. Ingvar and Marina came to visit. Hedvig and W heading for the beach. |
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| Eating a banan - sporting his Longhorns outfit. |
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| You're not a real guy unless you're the owner of a John Deere tractor! The grandparents provided this summer gift for WC. |
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| Going to the beach with dad and Grandmom. |
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| Swinging lifestyle. |
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| "Look! Grandmom! Swedish cows!" |
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