Monday, January 11, 2016

Betty MacDonald and many bridges

Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.

Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund praised the International Betty MacDonald fan club events.

I totally agree with her.

I made many new friends there.

We are building bridges to Betty MacDonald fan club fans in 5 continents.

We may be different regarding our cultures but we have so many things in common for example we adore very brilliant and witty author Betty MacDonald.

My favourite city for next International Betty MacDonald fan club event is breath taking Sydney because there are so many Betty MacDonald fan club fans in Australia.

There are only 3 days left.

Don't miss the chance, please to win the most interesting collection of Betty MacDonald unique handmade Christmas cards.

Betty MacDonald fan club contest team made a decision about a new deadline:

December 15, 2015

We'd like to give you a very good advice.

There might be a document or a letter in Betty MacDonald fan club letter collection which could be very helpful to find the correct answer.

In which year did Betty MacDonald create this Christmas card?

Good luck folks!

Wolfgang Hampel's new Vita Magica guest will be a very famous personality.

Perhaps a new Betty MacDonald fan club honor member?

Speaking of Betty MacDonald fan club honor members we are very happy indeed that our beloved Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is back.

What about a trip to Betty MacDonald's very beautiful Vashon Island?

Yours,

Sandra

Don't miss this very special book, please.

Vita Magica

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD

Betty MacDonald fan club items

Betty MacDonald fan club items - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I

Betty MacDonald fan club groups

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund

Leonardo Da Vinci Designed A Bridge...Now It's Being Build! Amazing!

Added for cris 13 hours ago · 222 views · 1 shares · 0 likes

At the turn of this year, students from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) constructed a replica of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in ice. Next up, they're turning their attention to a bridge designed by Leonardo da Vinci. If successfully completed, it will have the longest open span ever built from ice.

According to TU/e, the current record for the longest such span is held by the first project it ran as part of its Structural Ice program. The Pykrete Dome was built in 2014 and had a span of 30 m (98 ft). The aim for the da Vinci Bridge in Ice is for a span of 50 m (164 ft).
Pykrete is a mixture of ice reinforced with wood or paper fibers, used to construct the Structural Ice projects. It is said to be three times stronger than plain ice and a lot tougher. The overall aim of the projects is to show how pykrete can be used as a building material for temporary structures.

"Pykrete offers an easy way to build slim, safe and low-cost temporary structures," explains project leader and TU/e lecturer Arno Pronk. "For example, for temporary roads in Arctic regions, at events or for ice hotels."

What do you think about this video?

When it comes to refugees, Scandinavia is deeply divided

Resize Text

Print Article

Comments 90

By Rick Noack September 9, 2015

To some Americans, Scandinavian countries might all seem basically the same: They lead the world's rankings, be it in education or health care, and seem to be centers of innovation. These days, however, northern Europe couldn't be more divided. What is separating these wealthy nations? The question of how to deal with refugees.
Sweden has so far taken in the most refugees per capita among all European nations. Meanwhile, in neighboring Denmark, authorities have taken the opposite approach. They placed an ad in Lebanese newspapers, carrying an unspoken yet unmistakable message: Don't come to Denmark. On Wednesday, Denmark stopped all trains connecting the country to continental Europe through Germany for an undetermined time to prevent refugees from being able to cross the border.
Earlier in the week, the Danish newspaper Information published a photo by Sigrid Nygaard of a man spitting on refugees who were passing under a bridge. The image was widely circulated on social media sites. What does this photo represent? Is it the country's real face?
It certainly isn't the image most Americans have of peace-loving Scandinavia. And yet, such tensions could hardly surprise close observers of Scandinavian politics.
"Until 2001, Norway, Sweden and Denmark could be seen as a fairly liberal bastion in the north of Europe," Rune Berglund Steen, the director of the Norwegian Center against Racism, told The Washington Post. Since then, Norway and Denmark have drifted away from Sweden.
"In Denmark and Norway, the political climate has been dominated by right-wing populist parties peddling in anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric, something Sweden — at least until the recent rise of the Sweden Democrats — has been spared from," Berglund Steen explained. He said the evolution of the political discourse in those countries has led to different attitudes toward refugees.
Already in 2012, Patrick Kingsley observed in the British Guardian: "Denmark, then, is a tale of two opposing mindsets – one indignant and xenophobic, the other tolerant and communal." The country's strengths, which include its strong inter-community relationships, are also partially responsible for its current levels of xenophobia. "Danes reimagined their society as one defined by togetherness," Kingsley, who published the book "How to Be Danish," wrote. Consequently, Denmark has become a highly homogeneous society, making it difficult for some foreigners to assimilate.
After the Liberal Party, which is categorized as center-right, formed a minority government in June, it drastically curtailed refugees' rights. Denmark continues to isolate itself from the influx of newcomers to Europe and has cut generous benefits to discourage asylum seekers from coming to the nation.
Denmark is hardly the only northern European country opposed to more migrants. In the first half of this year, Norway, Finland and Iceland also took in fewer than 15,000 refugees each — compared to 75,000 who came to Sweden — though Sweden has by far Scandinavia's biggest population with about 10 million citizens.
Northern European countries are among the world's richest
Except for Finland, these countries are extraordinarily wealthy, partially due to oil revenues, which allow them to fund a generous welfare system. Norway's Government Pension Fund is financed through the country's surpluses in oil sales and is currently worth about $870 billion, for instance. Norway has the world's sixth-highest gross domestic product per capita, which means its citizens are among the world's richest, on average.
But Norway has not done nearly as much as Sweden to help refugees. When some tried to enter the country from the Arctic Circle, crossing the Russian-Norwegian border, the government threatened to charge anyone who helped them with human trafficking.
"These days, a popular conception in Sweden seems to be that Norway is a rather racist country, while a popular conception in Norway is that Sweden is a very naïve country, blind to the supposed hazards of immigration," Berglund Steen said. "While both views are strongly oversimplified, there is little doubt that sadly, anti-immigrant and Islamophobic rhetoric generally has had more resonance in Norway."
Why is there so much fear?
In many of these countries, the financial burden does not necessarily appear to be the main argument against accepting more refugees. Rather, it's the fear of having to adapt a societal concept that appears to work rather well in many regards. Whereas German Chancellor Angela Merkel acknowledged that the country had to accept that it would change due to the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees in the coming years to stop its population decline, the northern Europeans seem more determined to preserve their way of living.
In an interview with NPR, Robert Acker, who emigrated from Bosnia to Sweden in the 1990s, said the mood was changing in Sweden as well. "I got along with the Swedes early on. But now, I believe it's a totally different thing. ... They want us out. They just want Swedes here." As in the other countries, many Swedes accuse Muslims of not being willing to to assimilate — but they do not mention how difficult some migrants find it to build ties because they don't feel welcome.
Terror attacks have only increased the rift in recent months: In February, for instance, a man who had sworn fidelity to the Islamic State killed two people in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. Violence has also targeted Scandinavian Muslims: Several Swedish mosques have been burned down this year.
Sweden and Iceland stand out
According to a Eurostat survey, most Swedes continue to think positively about non-E.U. immigrants. In Iceland, which has only about 300,000 inhabitants and does not technically belong to Scandinavia although it is often associated with the region, support has gone even further. Citizens recently urged the country's government to accept more refugees. A poll conducted by Iceland's market and media research institute MMR showed that 88.5 percent of the population thought the country should accept more refugees. Last week, 1,000 Icelanders even offered their homes to accommodate them.
The initiative could turn out to be a success: The country's welfare minister announced shortly afterward that authorities were examining private accommodation offers, and that the country might decide to let in more refugees as a result.
In Finland, a Nordic country close to Scandinavia, where the population is more opposed to accepting more refugees, the reverse happened: The prime minister announced last weekend that he would accommodate refugees in his private home in order to inspire others to do the same.
Also read:
A Hungarian camerawoman trips refugees who are running from police
This map helps explain why some European countries reject refugees, and others love them
7 Middle East crises that are a bigger problem than Iran’s nuclear program

Rick Noack writes about foreign affairs and is based in Europe.

Comments

David Bowie passed away

David Bowie: legendary rock star dead aged 69 – latest updates

Follow the reaction and tributes to the musician who has died of cancer after 18-month illness

LIVE Updated 2m ago

10.30am 10:30

The contributions are coming in on our Guardian Witness page for your thoughts and memories about Bowie.

Brixton memorial

**Memorial forming at the mural in Brixton. Had to stop by and lay my tribute. What a genius he was . So unbearably sad today.**

2m ago10:28

These are being shared a fair bit on Twitter – the isolated vocal tracks to two of Bowie’s most celebrated songs, Space Oddity and Ziggy Stardust. A fantastic listen, both of them.

5m ago10:25

Our obituary is now up. You can read it in full here. This is an extract:

Until the last, David Bowie, who has died of cancer, was still capable of springing surprises. His latest album Blackstar appeared on his 69th birthday on 8 January, and proved that his gift for making dramatic statements as well as challenging, disturbing music hadn’t deserted him.
Throughout the 1970s, Bowie was a trailblazer of musical trends and pop fashion. Having been a late-60s mime and cabaret entertainer, he evolved into a singer-songwriter, a pioneer of glam-rock, then veered into what he called “plastic soul”, before moving to Berlin to create innovative electronic music.
In subsequent decades his influence became less pervasive, but he remained creatively restless and constantly innovative across a variety of media. His capacity for mixing brilliant changes of sound and image underpinned by a genuine intellectual curiosity is rivalled by few in pop history. Blackstar was proof that this curiosity had not diminished in his later career.

Betty MacDonald and her friends

Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

can you remember Betty MacDonald's very special 'friends' ( see photo above) described in one of her outstanding books?

Perhaps you have experiences of your own.

Send us your story or video please and you'll be our next Betty MacDonald fan club contest winner.

Deadline: January 31, 2016

Which are your favourite cities for next International Betty MacDonald fan club meetings in 2016?

I'm crazy about very romantic Heidelberg.

Don't miss the chance, please to win the most interesting collection of Betty MacDonald unique handmade Christmas cards.

Betty MacDonald fan club contest team made a decision about a new deadline:

December 15, 2015

We'd like to give you a very good advice.

There might be a document or a letter in Betty MacDonald fan club letter collection which could be very helpful to find the correct answer.

In which year did Betty MacDonald create this Christmas card?

Good luck folks!

Wolfgang Hampel's new Vita Magica guest will be a very famous personality.

Perhaps a new Betty MacDonald fan club honor member?

I can imagine that Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli would support this idea.

Wishing you a very nice Monday although I don't like Mondays.

Yours,

Peter

Don't miss this very special book, please.

Vita Magica

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Betty MacDonald, Onions in the Stew and Vashon Island

Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

Betty MacDonald's 'Onions in the Stew' is my favourite too.

I'm rereading it at the moment and enjoy it very much.

If you ask for my favourite city for one of the next Betty MacDonald fan club events it should be Seattle.

I'd like to visit very beautiful Vashon Island.

I hope this dream will come true.

Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter January includes a new Betty MacDonald fan club surprise - some new never published before excellent photos of Betty MacDonald and her family.

We recently got some photos of Betty MacDonald's wonderful grandmother Gammy and other family members.

A real golden Betty MacDonald fan club treasure!

Greta, Britta, Mats, Pieter, Mary and many other Betty MacDonald fan club newletter team members are working on this new Betty MacDonald fan club treasure.

We are going to publish the new Betty MacDonald essay by Betty MacDonald fan club research Anita and Eartha Kitt II.

The subject is ' Betty MacDonald's life on Vashon Island ' with several never published before interviews of Betty MacDonald's family, friends and neighbours.

We are very happy indeed that our beloved Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is back.

New Betty MacDonald documentary will be very interesting with many new interviews.

Alison Bard Burnett and other Betty MacDonald fan club honor members will be included in Wolfgang Hampel's new project Vita Magica.

More exciting news about Betty MacDonald's filmed interview will come soon.

Enjoy a new breakfast with Brad and Nick , please.

Regarding 2016 NYE fireworks we have a Betty MacDonald fan club contest question:

Which is your favourite one?

A: London

B: Sydney

Deadline: January 31, 2016

My favourite is London. It's really incredible!

Wishing you a great Sunday,

Mona

Don't miss this very special book, please.

Vita Magica

Three thousand refugees now arrive in Europe every day, mainly heading for Germany. It’s hard not to feel uneasy – even fearful – about how German and European politics are going to evolve in reaction, and how this might affect the very future of the EU.
Paris might still be reeling from the 130 deaths in November’s terrorist attack, but now Germany is recoiling from the multiple attacks on women on New Year’s Eve from apparently young Arab men, many new immigrants or asylum seekers.
Terrorism can be dealt with by aggressive police, detection and surveillance work. The European public may not like the impact on their liberties, but they can recognise a feasible response is nonetheless possible. However, managing unreconstructed attitudes towards women by newly arrived young Arab men is far harder and much more menacing. It poses the question that a liberal society does not want to confront. Is cultural coexistence possible – and if not, what is to be done?

The German media, police and criminal justice system have been agonisingly slow to respond, perhaps hoping that silence would make the problem go away. But a week later, it is now becoming clear that there were ugly incidents on New Year’s Eve in many German cities. In Cologne up to 1,000 men, many described as of North African or Arab appearance, and aged between 18 and 35, gathered in the huge square between Cologne cathedral and the main railway station. They let off fireworks and robbed passers-by. Of the complaints, 117 involved sexual assault, including two allegations of rape. Wolfgang Albers, Cologne’s police chief, who did not accept offers of aid from a nearby police force and issued a press statement on New Year’s Day saying that NYE had passed off peacefully, has been suspended by the state interior minister. The local public TV station, which did not broadcast any news for two days after the events, has publicly apologised. Only now are German newspapers and politicians beginning to engage with the profound issues.
Some of what is surfacing is pure poison. Police found a crib sheet on one of the detained men with phrases such as “great breasts” and “I want to f*** you” translated into German. Another is alleged to have told police that they couldn’t touch him because: “I’m Syrian, you have to treat me nicely. Frau Merkel invited me.” Fireworks were allegedly hurled at the cathedral as a symbol of Christianity.
No surprise that Julia Klöckner, the leader of Mrs Merkel’s CDU in Rhineland-Palatinate, said the attacks had been a wake-up call: “We really need to take off the blinkers.” No surprise either that the mayor of Cologne should be derided for advising women to keep men at arm’s length. Who is to blame for women being at risk? Women for simply being women?
The German chancellor is trying to steer a course. Recorded before the events in Cologne, her new year’s message to both her fellow German citizens and the refugees was to see the crisis as an opportunity. Germany needs millions of young qualified workers (more than half the refugees are highly skilled, it’s been said), allowing refugees to give to the society of which they wanted to be part. But, post-Cologne, she has begun to strike a different note.
“Women’s feelings of being at people’s mercy without any protection, is intolerable for me personally,” she declared. Her government is to review its refugee policy, with one likely initiative being immediate deportation for those convicted of any criminal activity. At the same time, Merkel is aware of the danger of surrendering to fear. “We must also keep talking about the basis of our cultural coexistence in Germany: people rightly expect that actions follow words.”
Meanwhile the extreme right has seized on events as proof positive that Germany must stop accepting refugees immediately or otherwise face an “impending cultural and civilisational collapse”, as the populist Eurosceptic Alternative für Deutschland puts it.
The initial slowness of response from both police and media was nothing to be proud of; equally feeding a political tradition whose antecedents Germans know and fear must be avoided.

So far what the Germans call the “Willkommenskultur” is still alive. Merkel and her SPD coalition partners will insist on the rule of law, getting tougher on deportation. There will be no talk of noxious multiculturalism, but instead of cultural coexistence in which the host society’s values are paramount. The German media will be more vigilant about honest-to-God reporting.
Abroad, Merkel will work for burden sharing, tougher measures to patrol Europe’s borders and seek solutions to stop the refugees at source – ending the war in Syria and persuading Turkey to host more people. Above all, she will look to the refugees themselves to do all they can to castigate and marginalise the minority who are inducing such a toxic reaction.
The British interest is unambiguous: Merkel must succeed, or a liberal Germany, and with it a benign European Union, will be lost. Already the venomous Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán is calling for tougher border controls, and the need to defend Europe’s values – code for an excuse for mass expulsion of refugees. He will have a new hearing in parts of Germany.

Amid this growing turmoil, the assumptions on both sides of the referendum debate are complacent and rest on Britain needing to do nothing to shape its continent. The pros insist that Europe offers us a great deal, while sceptics claim we can leave and still trade with an open, free-trade Europe. Britain, in or out of the EU, can use it as a milch cow. Good old liberal Germany will continue to anchor everyone.
It may not. What is being asked of Germany is enormous: it is to their credit that Germany’s leaders accept it – and to the public’s credit that so far it has stood behind them. But the latest poll in Germany for the first time reports a majority in favour of closing Germany’s borders. More Colognes, and that figure will grow further.
Yet this is a common European problem. It would be magnificent if a leading British politician would make the case for sharing Merkel’s objectives, and give her and her people a sense that we are with them – working to the same ends with the same mixture of realism and idealism. I bay at the moon.

More comment

Topics

Betty MacDonald, the favourite book and the situation in Sweden

Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

i can remember Betty MacDonald's experiences with raccoons very well.

Years ago we asked Betty MacDonald fan club around the World to share their No. 1 book by Betty MacDonald.

Onions in the Stew was the winner and it's my favourite too.

Which are your favourite cities for next International Betty MacDonald fan club meetings in 2016?

I'd like to vote for Seattle.

We got many mails regarding current Betty MacDonald fan club contest and because of the very good advice well' have winner soon.

Deadline:

December 15, 2015

That's the very good advice.

There might be a document or a letter in Betty MacDonald fan club letter collection which could be very helpful to find the correct answer.

In which year did Betty MacDonald create this Christmas card?

Good luck folks!

We can't wait to learn more about Wolfgang Hampel's new very famous Vita Magica guest.

It really sounds fascinating.

The new guest is a famous TV personality, author and singer.

Perhaps a new Betty MacDonald fan club honor member?

Speaking of Betty MacDonald fan club honor members we are very happy indeed that our beloved Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is back.

Have a sunny Sunday,

Yours,

Max

Don't miss this very special book, please.

Vita Magica

Torn apart by an open door for migrants: Sweden is seen as Europe's most liberal nation, but violent crime is soaring and the Far Right is on the march, reports SUE REID

Sweden currently accepts one in seven migrants entering Europe
But attitudes of Swedes about immigration are changing by the hour
Prime Minister Stefan Lofven admitted that his country faced a crisis

By Sue Reid for the Daily Mail

Published: 00:10 GMT, 14 November 2015 | Updated: 10:17 GMT, 15 November 2015

783

View comments

Waiting at the bus stop with their bags are three Syrian men fed up with Swedish hospitality. Five minutes ago, they walked out of a charity-run migrants' hostel surrounded by trees in a pretty tourist town, an hour's drive from the country's second city of Gothenburg.

'We refuse to stay there,' says 29-year-old Maher Al-Saleh, as he stands defiantly on the roadside. 'The bedrooms are small, it's dirty, and they serve pasta every night, which we don't like. It is run like a Christian prison, with prayers before meals. We are Muslims.'

This may sound rather ungrateful. Maher and his two friends, Mahamed, 22, and Mahmood, 38, came to Sweden after taking this summer's well-trodden route to Europe from the Middle East, via Turkey. On reaching Germany, they discovered that the waiting time to claim asylum was running into months.

Scroll down for video

Ultra-liberal: Sweden has a reputation for welcoming any foreigner, and handing out generous benefits

So, last month, they boarded a ferry to ultra-liberal Sweden, which has a reputation for welcoming any foreigner who knocks, and handing out generous taxpayer-funded benefits.

Of course, like the 100,000 other incomers to this country of just 9.5 million people this year, Maher's group was let in, and given a place to stay. But there's a problem: by Christmas, another 90,000 are expected to try to enter Sweden, leaving conflict in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as poverty-plagued parts of Africa.

Put the word 'asylum' in Arabic into a smartphone search engine and 'Sweden' comes out as the top result. Its population is the fastest-growing in the EU. The country accepts one in seven migrants entering Europe — more per capita than any other state.

In 15 years' time, demographers say, indigenous Swedes will be in a minority because the men who arrive are allowed to send home for wives and children, who in turn will have their own children.

The Swedish economist Tino Sanandaji, who himself has an Iranian-Kurdish background, recently described what's happening in Sweden as 'quite disastrous'. He said: 'This is an irreversible social experiment that no wealthy state has ever attempted. There are almost no ideas or visions over how this can be solved.

'You can't combine open borders with a welfare state. If you offer generous benefits, and anyone can come and use these benefits, a very large number of people will try to do that. It's just mathematically impossible for a small country like Sweden to fund that.'

Migrants are escorted by police officers as they arrive in Sweden by train after crossing the border with Denmark

Indeed, the truth is that despite its oh-so liberal reputation for warmly welcoming incomers, the attitudes of ordinary Swedes about immigration are changing by the hour.

This week, the Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven admitted that his country faced a crisis. On Thursday, it reinstated border controls, carrying out identity checks on passengers travelling by train across the strait from Denmark, and those arriving at ferry terminals in the south, to 'maintain public order'.

Concerns are growing over security, amid fears Sweden could pay a terrible price for its indiscriminate welcome of people whose identities and backgrounds have not been adequately checked.

The country is running out of beds, the Migration Minister Morgan Johansson has warned, and the Swedish people — who already pay the highest taxes in Europe — have even been told their holiday homes may be seized to help out.

The Swedes put themselves in this situation. They have pursued a very lenient immigration policy for years and they are to blame for the swamp they are in

The Swedish furniture store chain Ikea has almost sold out of mattresses because so many are needed for migrants' accommodation in hotels, sports halls, ski chalets, summer schools, military camps, museums, theme parks — and the new tented villages beginning to dot the country.

As for paying for all the newcomers, Sweden has dipped into part of its overseas aid budget but has also gone cap in hand to the EU, begging for emergency funding to cope with the ever-growing influx. In what many view as an act of rank hypocrisy, this week the government even asked other EU countries with tougher border controls to take migrants off their hands.

Neighbouring Denmark refused. As its Immigration Minister Inger Stojberg bluntly explained: 'The Swedes put themselves in this situation. They have pursued a very lenient immigration policy for years and they are to blame for the swamp they are in.'

It was back in 1975 that the Swedish parliament decided that the country should become multicultural. The population then stood at eight million — virtually all ethnic Swedes — but its people had a proud history of offering help to outsiders.

A new ultra-liberal immigration policy was pursued enthusiastically by the ruling Left-wing Social Democrats for the next four decades. Sweden seized the moral high- ground in Europe by offering shelter to anyone in the world. Those who criticised the radical plan were shouted down as racist, as Sweden became the EU's citadel of political correctness.

But today Sweden faces uncomfortable questions about the kind of society it wants, or can afford, to be. At 16 per cent, the foreign-born proportion of its population is already higher than that of not only Germany and Great Britain, but also the U.S.

A group of migrants off an incoming train gather on the platform at the Swedish end of the bridge between Sweden and Denmark in Malmo Sweden

The Right-wing Sweden Democrats, an anti-immigration party, has quickly climbed to be the third largest in the polls thanks to support from Swedes who blame the migrants for rapidly rising crime rates and changing the country's culture.

This week, the party, which is backed by 25 per cent of Swedes, distributed controversial leaflets in Lesbos, the Greek island from which migrants arrive in rickety boats to get a toehold in Europe.

The message on the leaflets was stark. It read: 'There are no money, no jobs, and no homes left in Sweden. Migrants now only get tents and camp beds.

'Our society is falling apart. We have to borrow money to provide education and basic health care for our citizens. Due to decades of mass immigration, our previously safe country is not safe any more.

'Not only do we have a very high number of shootings and gang-related violence . . . but Sweden now has the second highest number of rape reports in the entire world.'

It went on: 'In Sweden, women and men are equal. Forced marriages and polygamy will never be accepted. Halal slaughter of animals, wearing the niqab or burqa in public places will be forbidden in our country.'

However emotive the leaflet's language, the fact is that life for all Swedes is changing irrevocably.

By the end of next year, income taxes are expected to be running at 60 per cent for the biggest earners, the highest in the world.

The Army and the Civil Contingencies' Agency, set up to manage disasters, has been drafted in to help with the arrivals. Citizens have been told to stock up on water and tinned food in case shops run short. And on the streets, there is an air of tension.

Police gather a group of migrants off a train at the Swedish end of the bridge between Sweden and Denmark

Of course, migrants cannot be blamed for all the ills befalling Sweden — far less, every crime. Yet this is undeniably a society under strain. Since 1975, violent crime and rapes, including gang rapes, have risen to an extraordinary high level (in politically correct Sweden official statistics do not give the ethnic background of attackers.)

Forty years ago, 421 rapes were reported to the police in Sweden annually. By 2010, according to a BBC report, police recorded the highest number of offences — about 63 per 100,000 inhabitants — of any force in Europe. That was the second highest in the world — surpassed only by Lesotho in southern Africa.

In 2014, according to the Gatestone Institute, a respected American think tank, the number of rapes had risen to 6,620, an increase of 1,472 per cent since 1975.

In August, a double murder in an Ikea store in Vasteras, a small city in central Sweden, sent shockwaves through the nation. The victims were ethnic Swedes, 55-year-old Carola Herlin and her 28-year-old son, Emil. Their attacker was a 36-year-old Eritrean migrant who confessed to the random killings, apparently carried out with knives seized from the store's kitchenware department.

Last month, there was another tragedy, in Trollhattan, a multicultural town, now home to hundreds of migrants, near Gothenburg.

Wearing a Darth Vader mask, a 21-year-old Swede called Anton Lundin Pettersson walked into a secondary school and stabbed a teacher with an Iraqi background, and then a 15-year-old pupil with the surname Hussan.

If you offer generous benefits, and anyone can come and use these benefits, a very large number of people will try to do that. It's just mathematically impossible for a small country like Sweden to fund that

The police, who shot Pettersson — he died later of his wounds — said he had targeted 'those with brown skins' in a racial attack.

Prime Minister Lofven visited the school within hours, but this did not prevent ordinary Swedes deluging him and his government with emails of protest that were later released through Freedom of Information requests. The emails reveal the mood of the moment. Mattias, a 43-year-old social worker and father of four, wrote: 'I am trying to explain to my children, aged six to 16, what is going on in Sweden. I want my kids to grow up here the way I did, without explosions, hand grenades, car fires, violence, rape, and murder at Ikea.

'All these things are happening due to the unchecked influx from abroad. You are creating a hidden hatred in Sweden. We are dissatisfied by the way immigration is handled.'

Another protester, Marcus, 21, who had voted for Mr Lofven's Social Democrats, said he was unhappy still to be living with his parents owing to the public housing shortage.

'As soon as an old person moves out, eight foreigners move in: they just bypass us young Swedish people waiting in line,' he complained.

'With all the rapes, robberies and murders going on, why aren't non-Swedes sent back to their countries when they commit crimes?'

Another writer, Laila, added: 'I was raised in a Stockholm suburb, but seven years ago we moved on because we couldn't take the dogs out in the evening due to non-Europeans driving on the pavements. If you didn't move, they would jump out of the car and hit you. If you called the police, they did nothing.

'When my brother told these men off, a lit rocket (the kind you use at New Year) appeared in his mailbox. You can imagine how loud the blast was.'

A group of migrants from arrive off a train at the Swedish end of the bridge between Sweden and Denmark

Even the normally reticent police have admitted that some parts of Sweden have become 'no-go' areas for them. As one official explained recently: 'Police, ambulances and the fire brigade are attacked by gangsters. There are a lot of firearms, handguns especially. The kids throw stones at them, too — there are more or less riots.'

According to Professor Sanandaji, the economist mentioned earlier, nearly half of the young immigrants who arrive will struggle to pass exams at school or get a job. They are likely to live in 'nice Swedish welfare ghettos', rely on benefits, and — sadly — play their part in boosting crime rates. A particular problem for the authorities is coping with the thousands of unaccompanied children who are turning up. It costs £80,000 a year to house, educate and feed each under-age migrant — and so far this year, 33,000 have arrived.

Nowhere is the impact of migration more visible than in Trelleborg, Sweden's southernmost town, a few hours by ferry across the sea from Germany. Last month, 1,900 young Eritreans, Afghans, Somalians and Iraqis claiming to be under 18 arrived after refusing to seek asylum in Germany because of lengthening waiting times for registration.

Here, and in nearby Malmo, Sweden's third biggest city, the authorities are struggling to cope. In Trelleborg, I found a 17-year-old Afghan, Mohsen Karimi and his four friends idly hanging around the town centre with scores of foreign youngsters. They took me to a big house, where they live off the main promenade, and explained they are given handsome pocket money of £160 a month, three free meals a day, as well as the use of bicycles.

Looking over his shoulder before posing for photographs, Mohsen said he had been told by the migration authorities not to talk to the Press, before adding with a grin: 'We want to be in Sweden because it is better than Germany. We arrived last month from there. I hope one day my family will join me, and we will be Swedish.'

Mohsen claims to be 17, but the authorities will never know for sure. The fact is that many of the so-called child migrants heading for Sweden are in fact adults, cynically pretending to be under 18 to get their asylum cases fast-tracked.

Swedish police gather a group of migrants off an incoming train in Malmo Sweden

This trick was highlighted by journalists who visited a migrant hostel in Malmo and took a picture of an Afghan youth, Ahmad Farid, who claimed to be 16. They put a stuffed polar bear doll in his arms, producing a photograph that was clearly of an adult man clutching a child's toy.

The photograph has since become a 'pin up' for groups campaigning against the refugee children 'fraud'.

The authorities refuse to do tests to determine their age, calling them invasive and an abuse of human rights, so they have no way of knowing who is an adult and who is not. In neighbouring Denmark, where the approach is tougher, they have found that 72 per cent of 'child refugees' are in fact adults. In Finland and Norway, the figure is 66 per cent.

Back in the small town of Munkedal, where I had met Maher marching out of his accommodation run by a church charity, I talk to the locals about the future of Sweden. Outside the supermarket, one man in his 50s shakes his head. 'Be careful where you go. It's unsafe,' he said. 'The other day there was an arson attack on a migrants' centre up the hill. People are getting angry and frightened.'

The attack, which left 14 migrants suffering from smoke inhalation, was one of scores on similar targets this summer as anti-immigrant sentiment grew. The Swedish authorities now try to keep the addresses of migrants' homes secret — although that is well-nigh impossible.

As for Maher, he left his home city of Dayr Az Zor, situated in the middle of Syria's civil war, to seek a better future. A bachelor and trained electrician with good English, he would seem the perfect candidate for a new life in Europe.

Yet despite his free accommodation and food, he seems dispirited by Sweden as a whole. 'They do not like us in Sweden any more. There are too many of us who have come. We have nothing to do but eat their food, and sleep. Perhaps I may go to Finland now.'

With that, Maher waves goodbye to me as he and his friends climb on the bus for the nearby city of Gothenburg. They want to ask the overstretched migrant authorities there for better accommodation.

by Taboola

Monday, January 11, 2016

When it comes to refugees, Scandinavia is deeply divided

David Bowie: legendary rock star dead aged 69 – latest updates

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Betty MacDonald's 'Onions in the Stew' is my favourite too.

I'm rereading it at the moment and enjoy it very much.

If you ask for my favourite city for one of the next Betty MacDonald fan club events it should be Seattle.

I'd like to visit very beautiful Vashon Island.

I hope this dream will come true.

Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter January includes a new Betty MacDonald fan club surprise - some new never published before excellent photos of Betty MacDonald and her family.

We recently got some photos of Betty MacDonald's wonderful grandmother Gammy and other family members.

A real golden Betty MacDonald fan club treasure!

We are very happy indeed that our beloved Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is back.

Alison Bard Burnett and other Betty MacDonald fan club honor members will be included in Wolfgang Hampel's new project Vita Magica.

More exciting news about Betty MacDonald's filmed interview will come soon.

Enjoy a new breakfast with Brad and Nick, please.

Regarding 2016 NYE fireworks we have a Betty MacDonald fan club contest question: Which is your favourite one? A: London B: Sydney

Deadline: January 31, 2016

My favourite is London. It's really incredible!

Wishing you a great Sunday,

Mona

Topics

Torn apart by an open door for migrants: Sweden is seen as Europe's most liberal nation, but violent crime is soaring and the Far Right is on the march, reports SUE REID

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share or comment on this article

Enjoy a new breakfast with Brad and Nick , please.

Regarding 2016 NYE fireworks we have a Betty MacDonald fan club contest question:

Which is your favourite one?

A: London

B: Sydney