Sweden
Over the weekend some friends kept a group of us entertained with their list of potential names for a soon to be expected bundle of joy.
What people would think of the name, potential nicknames and other couples who’d “baggsed the name” were all key considerations.
But curiously, how that preferred name was spelled did not come into the equation at all.
Continue reading "Jazzymyn, Ehrik and Caytee walked into a bar" »
Even Julian Assange’s own legal team were scrambling tonight to get on top of the judgement from the UK Supreme Court to reject his appeal against extradition to Sweden, asking for a two-week stay as it rested on a point of law not raised during the hearings.
So it’s best to leave the legal arguments to the Law Lords.
But there’s a principle at play here that is anathema to our system here at home, like it or not Assange’s home. Secrecy.
Continue reading "The lack of transparency makes the Assange case smell" »
Latest 2 of 112 comments
View all comments-
OchreBunyip says:
If it is demonstrated they lied, will the alleged false accusers be charged? Unlikely. Read more »
-
OchreBunyip says:
@Anne, I ask why you assume an accusation means he’s guilty. False accusations are common (30-40% depending upon the jurisdiction) and there is good motive for these particular accusations to have been fabricated. Like all accused in our allegedly democratic west, Assange is innocent until PROVEN guilty. Read up on… Read more »
Rehabilitation works. Just ask Sally*, who first injected heroin at the of 15.
By 19, she was injecting four times a day and was working as a prostitute to pay for her habit. This continued until she met a social worker who referred her to a drug rehabilitation clinic.
After a tough battle with a few setbacks, Sally is able to live without heroin, and is now completing her second year of a law degree. And this is all thanks to rehabilitation.
Continue reading "It’s tough, it’s expensive, but rehab really works" »
Latest 2 of 63 comments
View all comments-
stephen says:
I think you’ve made a causal connection which is not real : that the Portuguese have de-criminalized drugs, this would not be a reason that people would access treatments for drug and alcohol services ; rather, medical support, and family and friends would, I’d think, be a more accurate reason… Read more »
-
thomas vesely says:
‘It’s tough, it’s expensive, but rehab really works’, for the rehab. industry. Read more »
It’s every hack journo’s secret fantasy to pen a novel.
Given that it can only be a matter of months until some upper-management genius develops a business model for the ailing print media industry that involves we human content providers being replaced with 100 monkeys (uncomplaining langurs based in a Mumbai cubicle farm, no doubt) sat in front of 100 typewriters, I’ve decided to start work on a book that will generate me some J.K. Rowlingesque coin.
It’s going to be what we literary types call “allohistory” (aka alternative history). In this genre it’s traditional to write about how things would have turned out if the Nazis won WWII but that particular mule has been whipped to death, so I’m spinning a yarn about would have happened if Sweden, following the economic shocks and stagnation of the ’70s, had lurched to the Left.
Continue reading "Life will be Swede when I pen my allegorical bestseller" »
Latest 2 of 21 comments
View all comments-
Katherine says:
Haha, so fun to see you ‘live’ on tv. That presenter woman didn’t know a thing touhgh did she? Funny that she immediately brought up the ‘penis fodralen’! I don’t think they would have showed that here in the States…(I used to live in Sweden 20 years ago so was… Read more »
-
Craig of North Brisbane says:
“Is that why there’s so much fiction in our newspapers? Zing! Read more »
Julian Assange repeatedly said that is the car accidents not the bus accidents of war that have resulted in the massive numbers of civilian casualties revealed by the Afghanistan and Iraq War Diaries in 2010.
Now it’s the media circus around the comparatively pedestrian accident of his legal situation that is drawing global attention away from Wikileaks and the revelations it has made.
Malcolm Turnbull was right when he said that Prime Minister Julia Gillard should not have jumped on what he called a “media frenzy” in describing Assange as a criminal when it had not been established that he broke Australian law.
Continue reading "Where’s Wikileaks in the celebrity circus?" »
Latest 2 of 25 comments
View all comments-
Cetaherzsd says:
Or perhaps it is <a >Eli Manning Jersey </a> really a terrific application that allows a person that may licence plate website strings in addition assistance preserving just about all to assess your calls for you should to become qualified to assessment whenever you could have a lot more special… Read more »
-
LC says:
And for the first time ever, the views of Sarah Bath match that of the general populace. +1 Gold Sticker to you. Read more »
Sitting in the Norrkoping campus of the Linkoping University, Sweden, southwest of Stockholm, I am overwhelmed with a sense of wonder that the sun has begun setting at 1 pm. It will be dark by 3.30.
Though a clear, sunny day, snow is forecast for this evening and there is a type of cold that would make most Australians shiver.
In the corridors here, one of the central topics of conversation amongst staff and students is the rise of the far right, anti-immigration party – the Sweden Democrats – that received 5.7 percent of the votes and gained 20 seats in Parliament. Their motto, “responsible immigration policies” for Sweden is, according to one of my colleagues here, a euphemism for limiting Muslim migrants.
Continue reading "Multiculturalism hasn’t failed, it’s been suffocated" »
Latest 2 of 214 comments
View all comments-
Lyncincerty says:
yhmar beats by dre bznpbn http://www.drdreheadphonesaustralia.com ewdqj cheap beats by dre wvvyxk http://www.cheapbeatsaustraliaonline.com zqgfc beats by dre sale bgeeh http://www.beatsbydreforsaleaustralia.com crigd beats headphone gsgyz http://www.cheapbeatsbydreheadphonesaustralia.com tpkgc beats australia nhogs http://www.cheapbeatsdreaustralia.com ceznl beats australia zbqxg http://www.cheapbeatsheadphonesaustralia.com qfwcy Read more »
-
Casey says:
Sink to the levels of not accepting barbaric practises? I believe that is an oxymoron sir. We have bent over backwards and accepted/shown compassion for these Muslims, and yet they still bite the hand of the very people who let them in and gave them a place to live. Teaching… Read more »
Even if this turns out to be the last piece of cake Swedish Crown Princess Victoria will eat without feeling guilty or having to run 10 kilometres, her marriage to personal trainer Daniel Westling should go down in the history books as one royal fairytale “most likely” to have a happy ending.
Because while their wedding in Stockholm on Saturday had enough pomp and ceremony to rival the “mother of all royal weddings” - Charles and Di circa 1985 - at least the Swedish princess, despite some resistance from her family, was free to choose her own “prince charming”, even if he was just one of the “common folk”. And given his day job, she’s also pretty much guaranteed to keep those toned biceps for life.
Latest 2 of 9 comments
View all comments-
anais says:
LifeofY, check facts, the Monarchy who has gone most with the times is the Dutch and has since Juliana became queen in the late1940s. She choose not be be called Her Majesty but Madam/Mrs, she send all her kids and grandchildren to ‘normal’ public schools, no private this and that… Read more »
-
Pete says:
Generally speaking I think that all monarchies are just tax wasting, money sapping, head up their own ass, wastes of space. (Prince Harry excluded, who wouldn’t want to head out on the town with him?) But maybe i’ve just been living in the UK too long. What they do well… Read more »
Facebook Recommendations
Read all about it
Punch live
Up to the minute Twitter chatter
'We are not here to sell fashion' - adore this post on clothes and nostalgia by @MaggieAhttp://t.co/nSlWkfv2o5
Found a TV meteorologist on Twitter with the last name Piotrowski. There's a whole newsroom of Piotrowskis out there
Recent posts
The latest and greatest
The Punch is moving house
Good morning Punchers. After four years of excellent fun and great conversation, this is the final post…
Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?
I have had some close calls, one that involved what looked to me like an AK47 pointed my way, followed…
Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”
In a world in which there are still people who subscribe to the vile notion that certain victims of sexual…
Nosebleed Section
choice ringside rantings
From: Hasbro, go straight to gaol, do not pass go
Tim says:
They should update other things in the game too. Instead of a get out of jail free card, they should have a Dodgy Lawyer card that not only gets you out of jail straight away but also gives you a fat payout in compensation for daring to arrest you in the first place. Instead of getting a hotel when you… [read more]From: A guide to summer festivals especially if you wouldn’t go
Kel says:
If you want a festival for older people or for families alike, get amongst the respectable punters at Bluesfest. A truly amazing festival experience to be had of ALL AGES. And all the young "festivalgoers" usually write themselves off on the first night, only to never hear from them again the rest of… [read more]Gentle jabs to the ribs
Superman needs saving
Can somebody please save Superman? He seems to be going through a bit of a crisis. Eighteen months ago,… Read more
Latest 2 of 84 comments
View all commentsAdd your comment