I also like the fact that the Finnish were ashamed of being so unfit in the 70s and decided to become fitter. The obesity rate is now 11pc, compared to 22pc in Britain. There were as many bicycles on the roads as cars (that isn't an exaggeration) in the town where I was staying, and cycle lanes are everywhere. They also have this weird Nordic walking thing with poles going on, and I saw lots of elderly people out walking. Also, everybody has to keep the front of their house clear of snow so that people can continue to jog and walk in the middle of winter. (an article on it is here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8127-1084068,00.html)
I also saw a bit of graffiti that read: "Vegan Punx".
Simon
>
> Ah, to have a culture of solidarity like this. -B.
>
> ------
>
> Egalitarian Finland most competitive, too
>
> By Peter Ford, Staff writer of The Christian Science
>
>
> Monitor Wed Oct 26, 4:00 AM ET
>
> [...]
>
> She [a Finnish mother] can afford to [take 11 months
> off to care for a newborn]: The government is paying
> her 60 percent of her salary to look after her baby.
> Next year Nygard and Sirelius will choose among the
> Finnish-, Swedish-, English-, or Spanish-language
> day-care centers in their neighborhood, and the
> state
> will pick up four-fifths of the cost.
>
> If either of them loses their job, they will be able
> to count on unemployment benefits that range up to
> 70
> percent of their salaries for 18 months. And when
> they
> retire they can look forward to generous pensions
> that
> amount, for the average Finn, to 60 percent of their
> last salary.
>
> These benefits come at a cost, of course: Finland
> levies some of the highest taxes in the world, and
> if
> Ms. Sirelius does well in her career, she will pay
> more than 45 percent of her personal income toward
> taxes. But she does not object. "I feel that is what
> keeps our society and country running," she
> explains.
> "We can't keep the welfare state running unless
> everyone pitches in and helps with the costs."
>
> [...]
>
>
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20051026/ts_csm/osocialfin;_ylt=AqP.qHFh2KxOXXQjplvkb8QDW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
>
>
> > From: "gboozell at juno.com" <gboozell at juno.com>
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 13:51:23 GMT
> Subject: [lbo-talk] New forms of resistance, new
> scenarios in Argentina
>
> October 25, 2005
>
> New forms of resistance, new scenarios in Argentina
>
> By Marie Trigona
>
> “Worker leave aside your tools, it’s time to
> struggle†Popular anarchist song from the Spanish
> Civil War
>
> Context and scenario
>
> Since December 2001 the forms of popular struggle
> have changed in a new scenario of resistance. After
> the political and economic crisis in 2001 and a
> popular uprising, many social movements began to
> take on a defensive position in the face of a new
> government grasping to recuperate legitimacy. The
> crisis among worker organizations deepened with
> President Néstor Kirchner’s government. Former
> caretaker president Eduardo Duhalde and current
> president Kirchner took on two major tactics to
> recuperate legitimacy: hitting workers and at the
> same time co-opting organizations...
>
> complete text at
>
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2005-10/25trigona.cfm
>
> Greg Boozell
> gboozell at juno.com
>
>
>
>
> > From: "Mark Bennett" <mab at straussandasher.com>
> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org>
> Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 07:26:05 -0700
> Subject: [lbo-talk] Bush bails on Miers
>
>
>
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1845665,00.html
>
> I can't wait to see the new candidate.
>
>
> > From: Michael Pollak <mpollak at panix.com>
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 10:48:57 -0400 (EDT)
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] J. Miller's dwindling allies
>
>
> On Wed, 26 Oct 2005, Carl Remick cited The New York
> Observer's take on the
> Pinch and Judy show:
>
> > http://www.observer.com/pageone_offtherec.asp
>
> This is really quite good. I don't read The
> Observer because media gossip
> usually makes me feel like I'm trapped bent over in
> a klein bottle. But
> when you want the media backstory, this is really a
> good place to go. I
> especially liked this bit:
>
> <quote>
>
> Meanwhile, Mr. Sulzberger had become virtually
> invisible. The
> reporters and editors who had produced The
> Times' 5,800-word Oct. 16
> piece on Ms. Miller's legal battles never heard
> from Mr. Sulzberger
> after the story ran.
>
> Mr. Sulzberger did, however, weigh in to tell
> Mr. Calame that he
> disputed one of his key quotes in the story--in
> which Mr. Sulzberger
> had said, describing the paper's legal strategy,
> "This car had her
> hand on the wheel," meaning Ms. Miller's hand.
> Mr. Sulzberger felt the
> quote hadn't been presented "in the proper
> context," as the public
> editor recounted it. In an earlier interview,
> Mr. Sulzberger explained
> to Mr. Calame, he had said that "there were
> other hands on the wheel
> as well."
>
> Embattled public figures have often blamed
> newspapers for misusing
> quotes. But this was the publisher of The New
> York Times accusing his
> own newspaper of misrepresenting his
> remarks--shades of Charles
> Barkley being "misquoted" in his autobiography.
>
> <end excerpt>
>
> This is against the backdrop (which the story
> explores in depth) of the
> seemingly growing consensus that it is Sulzberger
> who gave Miller her
> special protection that allowed her to override all
> controls.
>
> The story makes it sound like everyone at the Times
> agrees she's got to go
> and can't believe she's still there -- but Pinch is
> still protecting her, in
> passive mode, i.e., that everyone assumes they can't
> fire her unless he says
> it's okay. And he's gone underground.
>
> Michael
>
> > _______________________________________________
> lbo-talk mailing list
> lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
>
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