Sunday, October 19, 2014

The Russians Are Here - Again!

Throughout the centuries my country, Sweden, has - due to it's precarious geopolitical position - had an eternally suspicious attitude towards our immense neighbor to the east.

This situation was aggravated after Sweden lost it's position as one of the major powers in Europe in the 18th century and especially after the Swedish-Russian war ended in 1809, with Sweden proper losing a third of the realm (Finland) to Russia.

King Charles XII (1682-1718) pointing to
the East to tell us from where the enemy
will come.
Depending on who the rulers in Russia have been the situation has been better or worse, but the suspicion has always been there. Whenever we think of the risk of war or aggression, we look to the East.

Since the cold war the official defense policy of Sweden can be summed up in the phrase "non-alignment in peace aiming at neutrality in war".

That policy has served us well for half a century, but it seems to be losing support as we see the Russians, under the present president Vladimir "Little Father" Putin, becoming increasingly aggressive and militant towards it's neighbors.

During the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's Sweden has had it's territorial borders violated repeatedly by Soviet Union/Russian submarines or or other submersibles.

Once one of them even ran aground in the archipelago of Karlskrona in the south of Sweden and created an international incident.
The "Whiskey on the rocks"-incident. 
"Soviet submarine S-363 was a Soviet Navy Whiskey-class submarine of the Baltic Fleet, which became famous under the designation U 137 when it ran aground on October 27, 1981 on the south coast of Sweden, approximately 10 km from Karlskrona, one of the larger Swedish naval bases. U137 was the unofficial Swedish name for the vessel, as the Soviets considered names of most of their submarines to be classified at the time and did not disclose them. The ensuing international incident is often referred to as the Whiskey on the rocks incident." Wikipedia
At this very moment a search is yet again going on, this time in the Stockholm archipelago, for what is suspected to be another Russian submersible.
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I am sad to admit that, like many other Swedes, I am increasingly leaning towards a change of our present defense policy and I am starting to believe in the necessity for us to apply for membership in NATO in the immediate future.

JJ's Birthday Bash

Today is the first life birthday of one of the sweetest, most charming and kindest men in SecondLife, the talented photographer JJ Goodman. He turns thirty-something (...or is it really 41?).

Yesterday Fordis Flores and some other of JJ's closest friends had arranged a surprise party to celebrate him. Amazingly enough it actually seems that it was a complete surprise to him, none of all those invited had spilled the beans.
Samm Quendra entertained us with songs and sweet talk
WayneNZ and Holter
JJ and Hottie B Lockjaw
Ohiomike Lockjaw
Kahvy Sands and his beau Garrett Smith
Coop Router
Guyke, Tomais, Kahvy, me, Garrett, Kharissa Indigo and Larz Kas
JJ, Fordis and Slam Ballinger, Fordis bf
Gerard Renoir, Talu and Stephano del Piero
Samael & Cinta

SP Meeting, Sunday October 26, 2014, 2PM

Second Pride will have a General Meeting at the Second Pride Headquarters Conference Hall (SLurl) next Sunday.

The proposed agenda for the General Meeting:
1. Call To Order:
2. Department Reports
- Chair
- Build
- Events
- Community Relations
- Security
- Treasurer Report
3. New Business
4. Old Business
5. Adjourn

Friday, October 17, 2014

Picture of the Day - 205

Dancing Madness
"Dancing Madness" by Sunny George

If you wish to see more of Sunny George's photography, please visit his Flickr photostream here.

$3,650

"The richest 1% of the world’s population are getting wealthier, owning more than 48% of global wealth, according to a report published on Tuesday which warned growing inequality could be a trigger for recession.
According to the Credit Suisse global wealth report (pdf), a person needs just $3,650 – including the value of equity in their home – to be among the wealthiest half of world citizens. However, more than $77,000 is required to be a member of the top 10% of global wealth holders, and $798,000 to belong to the top 1%.
“Taken together, the bottom half of the global population own less than 1% of total wealth. In sharp contrast, the richest decile hold 87% of the world’s wealth, and the top percentile alone account for 48.2% of global assets,” said the annual report, now in its fifth year." the.guardian.com: Richest 1% of people own nearly half of global wealth, says report
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A net worth of $3,650, €2,859 or SEK26,214 doesn't really sound like that much, does it?

The fact that this low amount of wealth places you securely among the 50% richest people in the world is a scary and sobering thought.

Out Smart


(via JoeMyGod)

In "Out Smart," a teenage boy faces his parents' shock and outrage when he "comes out". He's not gay, though -- he's smart!

For more information about this short film visit Out Smart - The Movie.
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Cute and funny satire!