Another royalty speaks out about global warming: The King of Sweden calls for a global ban on bathtubs

Fighting global warming seems to have become a truly royal cause. It seems that Sweden´s King Carl XVI Gustaf does not want Britain´s Prince Charles to be the only royalty who gets good publicity by talking about the dangers of climate change:

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden has called for a ban on bathtubs to help cut emissions in an interview ahead of UN climate talks in Paris.

“All bathtubs should be banned. Just imagine it!”, he exclaimed in an interview published in the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper on Saturday.

 

Carl XVI Gustaf said that the idea had come to him the day before the interview, as he was going through his morning routine and was forced to run a bath, because the room in which he was staying lacked a shower.

  

“It took a lot of fresh water and energy,” he said. “It struck me so clearly: it’s not wise that I have to do this. I really felt ashamed then, I really did.” 

 

Later in the interview, he cautioned that the suggestion was a little “lighthearted”. 

 

“But there is a truth there,” he maintained. “Those small details have an enormous effect.”

Read the entire article here

Now Swedes are wondering whether the Swedish delegation at the forthcoming COP 21 climate jamboree will put the Royal Bathtub Ban on the agenda in Paris.

Sweden: More and more young people treated for Climate anxiety

Year in and year out mainstream media have been scaremongering about the existential threat of global warming. No wonder then that large numbers of young people in Sweden, and probably elsewhere, are in desperate need of professional help in order to treat their Climate anxiety:

Over the past four years Annika Tibblin encountered them in the work as a psychotherapist.

- There are just as many men and women, but all have been between twenty and thirty years. They represent a completely new therapy group - those seeking therapy for Climate anxiety, which in itself is not a medical diagnosis, but is a cause of anxiety that I had never encountered in my past professional life.

According to her climatic anxiety is different than ordinary "personal" anxiety, in which, for example, a person condemns himself as a result of an unhappy love relationship or a life crisis. Concerns over climate concerns everyone's existence here on earth and is therefore experienced as overpowering.

- Those who have sought therapy for climate stress talk many times about the thoughts of the climate makes them paralyzed. The turmoil is affecting major life choices. Many do not know if they dare to have children because of concerns over the future of the earth.

Former Uefa president: England should be given the 2018 World Cup instead of mafia state Russia

Of course former Uefa president Johansson is right. The dictator of the mafia state called Russia, Vladimir Putin, should be denied the games due to massive corruption:

England should be given the 2018 World Cup instead of Russia, the former Uefa president Lennart Johansson has said.
Johansson, who lost the 1998 Fifa presidential election to Sepp Blatter, says the 2018 and 2022 World Cup awards should be reviewed in the light of the new corruption charges.
Johansson, 85, speaking after seven Fifa officials including two vice-presidents were arrested by police in Zurich for extradition to the USA, told the Swedish newspaper Sportbladet: “I expect they will reconsider the [World Cup] decisions. Blatter himself has said that the decision to go east wasn’t proper. I am sure the initiative will now be taken to make a new decision.
“England haven’t had it since 1966 and it’s considered ‘the motherland of football’, whatever we might think. They are worthy of the attention.”

A tale of two CVs

Extracts from the official CVs of the Finnish and Swedish Prime Ministers make interesting reading

Prime Minister Alexander Stubb:

1999 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) international politics, London School of Economics
1995 Master of Arts (MA) political science, College of Europe, Bruges
1994 Dîplome de Langue et Civilisation Française (DL), Sorbonne Universitet, Paris
1993 Bachelor of Arts (BA) political science, Furman University, South Carolina, United States
1988 Matriculation (magna cum laude), Gymanasiet Lärkan, Helsinki
1986 Highschool Diploma, Mainland Highschool, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States

Language skills
Finnish, Swedish, English, French and German
Publications
Eleven books on the EU, about 30 academic articles on the EU and over 100 columns

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven:

Trade union training
School of Social Work and Public Administration, Umeå (1½ years)
Welder training
Upper secondary school, business programme(2 years)
Compulsory school (9 years)

Mr. Löfven´s official CV page does not include any information about his language skills. However, this brief video gives a hint:

PS

It goes without saying that a less educated politican can be as good a politician as an educated one. However, in our globalized age it certainly helps to have language and educational skills.

The Church of Sweden has joined the International Church of Global Warming

 "The lifestyle of the industrialised world is untenable"  
  
The Church of Sweden

The bishops of the Church of Sweden have published a letter about climate change, which proves that this once venerable church is now a full member of the greenie leftist international Church of Global Warming.

Here are a few samples from the letter:

Climate change is probably the biggest common challenge

ever faced by humanity. The work to face this challenge must be

reflected in social development and make us reassess how we

think about lifestyle, welfare, sustainability and justice, for the

sake of creation, for the sake of life and for the sake of our

grandchildren and our grandchildren’s grandchildren. --


As long as the profitability of many companies

depends on fossil fuels, there will be considerable opposition to  

change.28 For many years, what could be called the ‘fossil fuel

industrial complex’ has obstructed the development of renewable

energy sources and the phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies. Solar

cell producers and other companies that have developed technologies

for the transition to a fossil free economy are still too weak

to seriously challenge those with interests in preserving the prevailing

system. --     Peace with the earth is increasingly becoming a precondition

of peace on earth. The role of oil in many of the world’s conflicts

has long been obvious. It is not yet equally clear whether these

conflicts will be enhanced by climate change, but competition

for limited resources such as water, agricultural land, air space

and ocean regions is already creating tension that may worsen as

the climate changes. A shortage of food and sustainable supply

potential is creating uncertainty and flows of refugees, and is

contributing to conflicts.

An awakening is required among the world’s decision makers.

They must realize that it is not possible to win a war against the

planet or to deny that the planet has limits. We must make peace

with the earth. For the sake of the poor and the vulnerable, for

the sake of future generations and for the integrity of creation. --

However,

we probably need to reconsider our consumption patterns more

fundamentally. Consumption of goods produces higher emissions

than consumption of services, and private consumption produces

higher emissions than public consumption. The knowledge that

public consumption largely consists of healthcare, education and

social services further emphasizes the fact that the balance between

goods and services needs to be highlighted.

We believe and hope that we can see new alliances between,

for example, scientific climate research, happiness and welfare

research and religion. The desire to make good change can be

enhanced if we can show how energy transition, sustainability

and welfare promote each other. If it is also possible to show

that a climate-friendly life is also a happier life, then we have

made a major advance and the willingness to give up old

patterns increases.  
(Bolding by NNoN)

Swedes give a huge NO to the euro

The Swedes were smart enough to say no to the euro in a 2003 referendum. And now, ten years later, they are even more critical of the crisis ridden eurozone:

A whopping 78 percent of the electorate would choose to stay out of the eurozone if the country held a referendum today.

"Of those who replied in May 2013 that they would vote yes to the euro, about 67 percent would still vote yes, while about 21 percent now in November would vote no," Statistics Sweden said in a statement.

A slim 13.9 percent of men and 11.3 percent of women were in favour of introducing the euro currency in Sweden.

Quote of the week: Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt on Ukraine's decision to turn its back on Europe

Quote of the week:

"Carl Bildt ‏@carlbildt 22h

Ukraine government suddenly bows deeply to the Kremlin. Politics of brutal pressure evidently works."

---

PS

As the readers of this blog certainly know, I am not a great admirer of the European Union, but compared to Putin's mafia state, it would certainly have been a much better alternative for Ukraine.

 

 

Putin must be delighted that Sweden does not want to give Bill Browder "safe passage"

After reading this piece of news in the Wall Street Journal, one would think that the only option for the Swedish government is to ask State Secretary Martin Valfridsson in the Ministry of Justice to quickly announce that he made a mistake:

Four years ago, Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was killed in prison by his jailers for trying to expose a $230 million fraud. Not satisfied with that outcome, Mr. Putin put Magnitsky posthumously on trial and convicted him, along with his client Bill Browder of Hermitage Capital, of tax evasion. Mr. Browder, who remains very much alive, was expelled from Russia eight years ago, but Moscow apparently isn't done with him. After his "conviction," Russia sought an international warrant for his arrest from Interpol, which sensibly refused to become complicit in Mr. Putin's campaign.

Mr. Browder's real crime is to have spent the past four years seeking justice for Magnitsky. He pushed for the Magnitsky Act passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law in 2012. The Act imposes financial sanctions and travel bans on Russians guilty of human-rights violations. Last month, federal prosecutors used the act to seize several pieces of Manhattan real estate owned by a Cyprus-based shell company allegedly linked to Magnitsky's jailers.

Mr. Browder has been pressing countries in Europe to adopt a similar approach, and earlier this year he was invited to testify to the Swedish Parliament about the need for a Swedish Magnitsky Act. As has become his habit, Mr. Browder sought assurance from Stockholm that he would not be arrested and shipped off to Russia.

Martin Valfridsson, State Secretary in the Swedish Ministry of Justice, twice declined the request, claiming that he was not permitted under Swedish law to provide advance notice that any particular person would not be arrested. Mr. Valfridsson's letters express all the appropriate concerns about Magnitsky's case and fate, but in the end he seeks refuge in a different set of pieties about the rule of law and Sweden's international obligations.

Mr. Putin must be amused. The Russian strongman understands the West's attachment to the rule of law and its sensitivities about international obligations, and he is perfectly willing to use that sensibility to his advantage. Part of the purpose of hounding Magnitsky in his grave and Mr. Browder in the West is to use the pretense of legality to subvert a genuine rule of law.

Mr. Browder has already sought, and received, a "safe passage" letter from the German government. The Netherlands offered him one unsolicited. And Britain, where he lives and is now a citizen, has made clear that it will take no part in Russia's legal gamesmanship. In refusing to do likewise, Sweden is allowing itself to act as Mr. Putin's cat's paw. Far from upholding the rule of law, it is subverting it to Mr. Putin's whims.

Nobel Peace Prize nominee Vladimir Putin watching his troops threaten Poland and the Baltic states

This video shows Nobel Peace Prize nominee,Vladimir Putin, joined by fellow dictator Alexander Lukashenko, watching Russian and Belorussian troops in action during the huge military exercises Zapad 2013 last week:

Officially the forces trained how to combat "illegal armed groups" (terrorists), but the real reason for the exercises was to threaten Poland and the Baltic states:

“Russia has officially stated that these are anti-terrorism exercises,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Juozas Olekas told AFP. “But the number of participants and amount of military equipment indicates that that this is not their agenda.”
Senior Estonian military official Lt. Col. Eero Rebo said: “The Kremlin claims that the exercise is about fighting terrorism, but based on the information we have on Zapad 2013, the exercise has an anti-West agenda.”
“If you look at the Baltic sea region, the strategic balance has been changing quite drastically in the last decade, and not in our favor,” Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks said Friday.
“We are concerned because we see such large-scale exercises in context,” he added.

Russia had informed NATO that 22,500 troops would participate in the Zapad 2013 exercises, but according to Swedish intelligence sources the real number was much higher, about 70,000. No wonder that people in Poland and the Baltic states are - and should be - extremely concerned.

On this Belorussian video you can see a soldier aiming at an unarmed Swedish Gripen reconnaissance plane (at about 2 min):

 

 

Support for joining the euro at all time low in Sweden

Sweden is not going to join the failed eurozone anytime soon. Support for the euro has plummeted; now only 9% of the Swedes are in favour of joining.

Jonas Ljungberg, professor at the Department of Economic History at Lund University eplains why the euro is not working:

 "A 'one-size-fits-all' approach to interest rates doesn't work in the eurozone. The countries are simply too different," he tells The Local.

Ljungberg contends that the entire euro project is flawed as the eurozone doesn't correspond to an optimal currency area that is set up to reap the benefits of having a common currency.

"You end up with some countries following the European Central Bank (ECB) that have their interest rates too low, which can lead to the sort of real estate bubbles that hit Spain and Ireland," he explains.

"While in Germany interest rates are likely too high and this leads to deflation and falling wages."

He cites calculations carried out by Lars E. O. Svensson, a former Riksbank deputy governor, that tried to quantify the costs of euro membership to the Swedish economy.

"He found that Sweden stood to lose 50,000 jobs if the ECB rate was a half-point too high," says Ljungberg. "Sweden would not have benefited from joining the euro. Rather, I think Sweden has benefited by staying out."

He credits Swedish voters for "not being swayed by the arguments of the elite" who campaigned in favour of euro membership back in 2003.

"The elite were very dismissive of the concerns and arguments of the rest of the public," he says. "It's not enough to just say that only people who are uneducated are against joining."

The eurozone crisis hasn't help boost Swedes' confidence in the common European currency, perhaps exacerbating a latent "hesitation about handing too much power to Brussels of Frankfurt", says Ljungberg.

Up until 2009, support for the euro among Swedes hovered around 40 percent, with just over half of those polled saying they were against joining.

But ever since early 2010, support for the euro has plummeted. In May 2013, a poll by the SOM Institute in Gothenburg revealed only nine percent of Swedes were in favour of joining the euro.

Read the entire article here

Two high level Chinese delegations visiting Sweden

An official Chinese high level delegation  together with their Swedish hosts in Stockholm in 1906. 

In the spring of the year 1906 a high level official Chinese delegation visited Europe. A visit to Sweden was also included in the study tour. The Chinese mandarins, among them two viceroys, arrived in Stockholm on April 22. During their stay in Sweden the Chinese guests met with Swedish officials and visited several industrial plants. 

However, the Swedish weekly Hvar 8 Dag, which published the photo above, considered it very unlikely that the visit would result in any reforms in China. 

106 years later, in 2012, another official Chinese delegation, led by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, visited Sweden. As in 1906, the Swedish hosts had included a visit to an industrial plant in the program. 

The difference was that this time the Chinese were visiting one of their own plants. Since 2010 the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group owns Sweden's probably most famous industrial brand, Volvo cars. 

As Bob Dylan used to say, The Times They Are a-Changin'...

Putin's puppet Medvedev tries to please his master

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's tiny puppet, Medvedev, apparently tries to please his master: 

 Any expansion of NATO to include Sweden and Finland would upset the balance of power and force Russia to respond, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday, underlining Moscow's nerves over moves to bring the Western alliance closer to its border.

Although Sweden and Finland are not actively seeking membership, both nations cooperate extensively with NATO and have openly debated the possibility of joining.

Speculation over Sweden mounted after it warned earlier this year that its defense capabilities were alarmingly limited. It was embarrassed in April when it could not respond to Russian military jets nearing its border, according to media reports.

Finland shares a long boundary with Russia.

"New participants emerging close to our border will change the parity and we'll have to take this into account and respond to that," Medvedev told a news conference at a summit of Nordic and Russian leaders in Norway.

"NATO ... has a military potential which can be used against our country in certain cases," Medvedev said, as Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen and Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt looked on.

Bildt's response was good - the cautious Katainen probably remained silent: 

"The fact that Norway is a member of NATO has not had any negative effect whatsoever on the development of cooperation in this part of the world," Sweden's Bildt said in response.

Of course, nobody takes Medvedev seriously anymore, and Putin will not have the resources to beef up his armed forces in any significant way. Russia earns billions from raw gas and energy exports, but most of it disappears through corruption into the ever expanding pockets of those favored by the KGB mafia now in charge. 

Hollywood "eco-luminaries" fighting global warming, sponsored by H & M

The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Global Green, "an organization dedicated to fighting climate change", has organized its Annual Pre-Oscar Party at Avalon Hollywood. 

According to the paper "celebrities and eco-luminaries" arrived at the party in Chevy Volt electric vehicles, sponsored by the Swedish cheap fashion company H & M. 

H & M  gives us some more information in its press release: 

Last night, Sophia Bush, Emmy Rossum , Orlando Bloom , Miranda Kerr and Helen Hunt were among the guests who joined H&M and Global Green USA to celebrate their partnership and the kickoff of H&M's global garment recycling program at Global Green's 10th annual Pre-Oscar party.  H&M, as a proud sponsor of the event, featured an exclusive H&M Conscious* lounge which highlighted H&M's key sustainability initiatives including their fashionable Conscious clothing collections.  An ivory organic cotton three-piece suit from H&M's Spring 2013 Conscious Exclusive collection was worn by Sophia Bush on the green carpet. 

Here is what "the proud sponsor" chose not to tell the Hollywood "eco-luminaries":

H&M has come under fire after a Swedish broadcast claims the high-street retailer isn’t doing enough to prevent sweatshop-like conditions at a subcontractor’s factory in Cambodia. The television documentary, aired by TV4′s Kalla Fakta (“Cold Facts”) program on Wednesday night, alleges that Cambodian workers producing clothing for the company are paid so little they have to borrow money to buy food. -

The minimum wage for Cambodian garment workers is $61 per month—or 25 percent of what constitutes a living wage in the country, according to the Clean Clothes Campaign, a Netherlands-based labor alliance dedicated to improving working conditions in the global garment industry. The group blames chronic malnutrition, coupled with close quarters, for the near-epidemic of mass faintings occurring across factories in the region.

“Low wages come at a high cost,” says Jeroen Merk, a research coordinator at the Clean Clothes Campaign. “Last year, over 2,400 workers passed out in Cambodian factories due to malnutrition as a direct consequence of low salaries. But H&M, one of Cambodia’s main buyers, continues to refuse to pay a living wage to its workers. This is unacceptable.”

After reading this, one can only hope that the "Conscious Exclusive collection" suit worn by by Sophia Bush was not made in Cambodia, by workers who passed out due to malnutrition! 

As to the "global garment recycling program", one has to hope that H & M does not use the same procedure which they applied in New York a couple of years ago:

On 6 January 2010, it was reported that unsold clothing and other items in one New York City store are cut up before being discarded, presumably to prevent resale or use

PS

The Hollywood Reporter also interviewed Oscar-nominated actress Helen Hunt, who was on the Pre-Oscar Party host committee, about what she has been doing in order to fight global warming:

THR: How can Hollywood help?

Hunt: We can help shine the light on both the climate science and the solutions, including through events like this. I also think we can all take action ourselves where ever possible. I spent last Saturday with my daughter doing a beach clean up with Heal the Bay

The father of the global warming theory hoped for a warmer world

The father of global warming hoped for a warmer world.

The father of the greenhouse effect theory, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius (1859 - 1927), is often celebrated by warmists. However, they always "forget" to mention his real global warming message:

By the influence of the increasing percentage of carbonic acid in the atmosphere, we may hope to enjoy ages with more equable and better climates, especially as regards the colder regions of the earth, ages when the earth will bring forth much more abundant crops than at present, for the benefit of rapidly propagating mankind.

(Quotation from the book Worlds in the making: The Evolution of the Universe by Svante Arrhenius, 1907)

Swedish researchers: Arctic and sub-Arctic mammals "positively affected" by global warming

Arctic mammals have reason to rejoice. A team of Swedish researchers has found that they will be "positively affected" by projected global warming:

Researchers from Umeå University in Sweden have discovered that mammals living in the Arctic and sub-Arctic land areas in northern Europe could be positively affected by climate change between now and 2080 - if they succeed in adjusting their geographic ranges. Presented in the journal PLOS ONE, the study showed how changing climates help drive shifts in species distributions and extinctions, and range contractions and expansions. The researchers postulate that such changes will only increase in the future. 

The researchers modelled the distribution of species, finding that the majority of mammals living in these specific areas will not suffer from the changes predicted for the next 68 years.

The Umeå University researchers should be congratulated for daring to publish these "inconvenient" results. However, knowing the people who decide about science funding in Sweden - and the EU in general - their chances of getting new research money have most  likely not increased. 

Read the entire article here

New study: It was warmer during Roman and Medieval times

Four scientists - Jan Esper, Johannes Gutenberg University, Ulf Büntgen, the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Mauri Timonen, Finnish Forest Research Institute and David C. Frank, Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern - have studied northern Scandinavian summer temperatures of the past two millennia. Their new study, which has been published in Global  and Planetary Change 88-89 has produced some rather interesting results: 

Background

In introducing the report of their most recent study, the authors write that millennial-length temperature reconstructions have become "an important source of information to benchmark climate models, detect and attribute the role of natural and anthropogenic forcing agents, and quantify the feedback strength of the global carbon cycle." And, therefore, the four researchers have dedicated themselves and their talents to developing the most reliable long-term regional temperature reconstructions possible, focusing their attention most recently on parts of northern Sweden and Finland

What was learned
Most importantly from our point of view, the four researchers say that the new temperature history "provides evidence for substantial warmth during Roman and Medieval times, larger in extent and longer in duration than 20th century warmth."

What it means
As ever more data-inclusive and carefully-analyzed studies of palaeotemperature proxies are conducted, it is becoming ever more evident that there has not been anything unusual, unnatural or unprecedented about either the rate of warming or the level of warmth achieved during the 20th century, which further suggests that there is no real-world empirical evidence for any CO2-induced global or regional warming. It has all been natural.

Read the entire article here

Rio+20 beach party gets into serious business

It looks like the Rio+20 mega beach party is finally getting into serious business:

On Wednesday, the first session of the high-level summit was addressed by 17-year-old activist Brittany Trilford of New Zealand, who challenged leaders: "Are you here to save face or are you here to save us?"


Ban suggested that the highly criticized final document could still be revised by world leaders before the summit ends on Friday.


When asked by reporters about that possibility, he responded: "Why do we have a summit meeting! Why have I been inviting and urging leaders, heads of state and government? They are the ones who can make political decisions, who can make a choice".


Obama, Merkel and Cameron are among the many leaders not attending. But maybe UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon believes that e.g. King XVI Carl Gustaf of Sweden and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, who have arrived in Rio, are the ones to "make a choice"?

But where is Britain´s bonnie enviro-fundamentalist Prince Charles? Well, he has been busy in Ascot:

Prince Charles, reigning clothes horse of the British Royal family, gave an excellent lesson in how to wear a pocket square yesterday at Royal Ascot.
Chaz knows that a well-chosen pocket square gives even the most formal suit a refreshing change in tone, creating an atmosphere of sartorial friendliness.

Perhaps the Prince thinks that his prerecorded  video message about the "catastrophic" consequences of inaction, is enough to save the world?

New peer reviewed study: Good food, walking and cycling keep climate change away

A team of "international experts" have published a paper on climate change in this week´s edition of PloS Medicine: 

The experts are from institutions in South Africa, Sweden and Germany. They will be highlighting the need to enhance climate and health benefits at the UN level.

--

The authors state that there is proof of significant health impacts of climate change in many sectors and these impacts lead to crisis in public health very similar to the impact of tobacco on the health of individuals. The authors highlight that this negative impact on health is because the general population is not sufficiently informed on the importance of public health.

The authors suggest that reduction in climatic impact and individual health benefits can be achieved if individuals are encouraged to cycle and walk instead of using other modes of transport and to eat healthy locally produced foodstuffs.

Maybe there is something to what these "international experts" say. Why not just eat, drink and be merry? A certain amount of cycling and walking will not hurt, either. If all these beneficial activities help to keep us away from Dr.Pachauri and the rest of the UN global warming hoaxters, then the fresh PloS Medicine paper would have served a real purpose. 

IKEA - hype and reality

On its internet page IKEA, the Swedish furnishings company, brags about its ethical management and its partnership with the WWF "to address climate change":

The hype:

Shared values

In the 21st century, the business winners will be those companies who look upon climate change as well as the need for reduced use of natural resources as a driver for innovation and a key to business development − including structuring business operations, setting targets and actively pursuing strategic partnerships. Both WWF and IKEA are convinced that through co-operation we will accomplish more.
--

The Climate Positive project is an umbrella for all the climate projects that IKEA and WWF are working on. It is mapping various opportunities for IKEA to create a general positive climate impact in society, not only by reducing its own emissions, but also by thinking and acting on how IKEA´s impact effects others.

The reality:

Spying is not a secret to IKEA France executives:

Several Ikea France executives have been asked to cooperate with investigators on charges on illegal surveillance of employees and customers.
This week, French watchdog newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné published condemning emails showing that several high executives at Ikea France, a branch of the Swedish furniture giant, knew about illegal surveillance practices.
Ikea France is said to have set up an entire system for surveying customers and employees, buying information gathered by the national police through a private security company. Questions have also been raised about where this security company got these secret files.
Ikea France apparently also searched for information on employees and customers through records of driving licenses and permits and through mobile phone operators.
CNIL, the French commission on data privacy, will continue the search for internal documents proving acts of illegal surveillance within the company. This morning, they visited several Ikea stores in the Paris area to examine computers and other information storage systems. They were also checking to see if information on personnel was being stored by the company.
--

this isn't the first complaint filed against the company that brags about its ethical management. American employees launched complaints in 2010. Also in 2010, a book was published recounting scandalous company practices.
In France, empoyees and union members have already said they will press charges.

Read the entire article here

Less than 10% of the Swedes want the euro

Sweden is not going to join the euro countries anytime soon, that´s for sure. Less than 10% of the Swedes think that their country should adopt the crisis-ridden European currency, according to a new opinion poll. This is a record low, according to the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet.

Anybody surprised?