If there is anything on this planet that resembles the mythical elves, it would be the Scandinavians. They live nearly forever, lead the world in the portion of their income that they donate to help poor countries, are hard-working, practically incorruptible, pathologically honest, supremely healthy, environmentally conscious, literate and multilingual, masters of gender equality. And [...]
The Swedish Ministry of Social Affairs has decided that dementia patients at nursing homes and old people’s homes may no longer be kept locked up behind closed doors. The daily Göteborgs-Posten criticises this: “The authority finds the legislation outdated and insulting. The naivety with which the social affairs authority is acting is shocking. This became [...]
The US news magazine Newsweek has investigated living conditions in 100 countries and crowned Finland the “best country in the world”. Antti Munnukka expresses his delight in a blog for the daily Etelä Saimaa and admonishes the pessimistic attitude of many Finns: “Happily our mother country Sweden retains third place on Newsweek’s list, while filthy-rich [...]
The Finnish government’s decision announced at the beginning of August to increase the number of Finnish soldiers in Afghanistan from 145 to 195 has triggered a debate in the national media. The daily Aamulehti defends the plan: “Most likely people in all countries which are sending soldiers to Afghanistan are questioning what their boys and [...]
Hindus have applauded Norway’s Oya Festival (Oyafestivalen) for being a sustainable and green festival in an environmentally friendly zone, calling it “a step in the right direction”. Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that in view of global ecological crisis, musicians and artists should not stay silent spectators to [...]
Copenhagen is the first city in Scandinavia to have a manditory green roof policy. The new policy makes vegetation and soil a mandatory obligation in planning. The policy covers all roofs with less than a 300 pitch and also covers refurbishment of older roofs. However such roofs will get some public financial. The green roof [...]
Denmark’s conservative governing coalition liberalised the country’s book market at the start of the year. The move has been a success despite criticism from the country’s cultural circles, writes the liberal-conservative daily Berlingske Tidende: “First of all not all booksellers have to be kept alive. The Internet makes it easier for people to buy books [...]
Finland’s Ministry of Justice is considering lowering the voting age from 18 to 16. The daily Turun Sanomat is sceptical: “The real problem with our representative democray isn’t the number of eligible voters but the low voting turnout. If only half of those eligible actually bother to vote from election to election, something is fundamentally [...]
In Finland, information about the earned income and pensions of its citizens is open to the public and published in the media once a year. The Finnish government has now introduced a new draft law into parliament that would remove concrete addresses from the public information on income and taxes. The daily Keskisuomalainen fiercely rejects [...]
The Öresund Bridge connecting the southern Swedish province of Schonen and the Danish Copenhagen region is celebrating its tenth anniversary. According to a study carried out by the Öresund Bridge consortium more companies are establishing their headquarters in Stockholm than in southern Sweden. The daily Sydsvenska Dagbladet writes that the bridge has brought progress even [...]
