Reader Fred Ray keeps a close eye on the zeitgeist, even the Scandinavian zeitgeist, and he reports that it “ Scandinavia has gone off the rails,” a conclusion supported by the following links that he provided.
First, from Norway there’s a real pissing contest between “aimless youth” and an innovative headmistress with a head for reform. I apologize for the lapse into bad language, but you’ll have to follow the link to see why I had no choice.
Next, from Sweden, a man who wanted to attend a Miss Gay 2006 event in Stockholm has been told by authorities that the organizers have the right to exclude all men.
When the man was turned away from the party for bisexual and gay women, held during the Pride festival in Stockholm, he considered himself to be a victim of gender discrimination. He reported the matter to Sweden’s equality ombudsman, Jämo.
But he found no support from ombudsman Claes Borgström.
Referring to both Swedish law and an EU directive, Jamö judged that Miss Gay 2006 was entitled to create a protected zone for women to compensate for “the negative effect of the gender power structure and sexualisation of the public space.”
Also from Sweden, “garbage spies” have been told they cannot take digital pictures of incorrectly sorted rubbish to establish claims of recycling malpractice.
The company which organises the collection and sorting of garbage for recycling, FTI, has been ordered to stop snapping careless recyclers and processing information about them.
You might think this ban reflects a high regard for the right of privacy, but you’d be mistaken.
Sweden’s personal data law says that only state authorities are allowed to handle personal information digitally when it comes to breaking the law.
….
The collection firm says it will now appeal against the decision in Stockholm district court. Managing director John Strand said that the board has changed its interpretation of the law – since FTI had discussed the matter with the board before implementing the method.
“It’s surprising that the board has now changed its mind. And why couldn’t they just contact us and ask us to use old-fashioned photo equipment?” asked Strand.
“That’s what we’ll do now, and then we’ll write our reports about environmental crimes on a typewriter.”
If there were a Nobel Prize for public idiocy, I have a feeling the prize committee wouldn’t have to look very from home to find some strong candidates.
“You might think this ban reflects a high regard for the right of privacy, but you’d be mistaken.”
Its a higher regard to privacy than we have here.