Archive for November, 2007

Elk or Moose? Metro tells it like it is

Miscellaneous: November 29th, 2007 by JS

We get it every time we write about these dratted creatures: a load of people email us and tells us what we call an elk is actually a moose. Well, yes it is. And then again, no it isn’t. Metro UK picked up the story and got a similarly full postbag. I thought it was worth reproducing their response:

Please note: This article has used the terms elk and moose interchangeably. We are aware that this confuses and even angers some people, but we are fairly relaxed about that.

Elk/Moose terminology update: what is commonly called a moose in North America is called an elk in Europe. The fact that there is a different animal, native to North America, which the locals have decided refer to as an elk is not our fault. The animal featured in the article is the European Elk, Alces alces, or moose to North Americans. That we choose to occasionally refer to it as a moose is partly as a courtesy to our North American friends, to let them know which animal we’re talking about, but mostly because ‘moose’ is a funnier sounding word. But if you think we’re going to give up calling our elk ‘elk’ just because you lot went over there and started calling something that wasn’t an elk an elk, well, think again. Elk elk elk.

Video: World’s biggest elk

Offbeat, Society, Tourism: November 27th, 2007 by PO

Somewhere in the wilds of northern Sweden lurks the biggest elk in the world. See what’s inside possibly the most impressive wooden animal since the Trojan horse:

Britain studies Swedish schools

Society: November 20th, 2007 by PO

With leading UK educationalists talking up the Swedish ‘free school’ model, the BBC and The Guardian both packed a school bag and headed north to get a closer look.

The BBC traveled to Ingarö outside Stockholm to meet the Lundquists a couple who, failing to find a suitable school for their kids, siply decided to set one up.

That was 12 years ago and since then the Lemshaga School has grown from a tiny 80-pupil primary school to a thriving state-funded comprehensive with 420 pupils aged from three to 16 and an international reputation.

The school’s creation was made possible by Sweden’s radical school choice policy introduced in 1992, which allows pretty much anyone, a private company, charity, co-operative or voluntary group, to found a school and receive state funding.

The Guardian’s correspondent meanwhile is not even sure at first that he has come to the right place.

To call Stockholm’s Praktiska Gymnasium basic hardly covers it. Even the most rundown inner-city English comprehensive usually makes some effort to tart itself up, but this Swedish upper secondary school has made almost none. Classrooms and workshops are spread out across several industrial buildings, and facilities are thin on the ground.

Swede sleeps rough after fleeing flies

Sweden abroad, Tourism: November 20th, 2007 by PO

A Swedish tourist got lost after he went for a walk to escape a swarm of sand flies, New Zealand’s TV3 reports.

Is Sweden the coolest cat?

Swedish Life: November 16th, 2007 by PO

The New Statesman explains why Sweden is often the coolest customer at the party i.e. the one who doesn’t dry hump the stereo at a certain stage of the evening:

They are intelligent – they have the highest per capita ratio of Nobel laureates. They gave us Abba, the most karaoke-friendly pop group of all time. And last year the Daily Mail asked “Is Sweden the most boring country in the world?” before giving the country a right drubbing. Now, if there’s anything that can establish something’s innate coolness as quickly as a thorough slagging from the Daily Mail, I have yet to discover it.

But Kira Cochrane also finds that there’s a sting in the tale.

Investigation or attention-seeking?

Miscellaneous: November 7th, 2007 by JS

It would be comic if it wasn’t such a waste of public money: police have raided the TV4 newsroom on the orders of Sweden’s top corruption prosecutor, Christer van der Kwast, with the aim to get their hands on the 1,000 kronor bar bill for an evening TV4 reporter Anders Pihlblad spent in the company of Ulrica Schenström, PM Fredrik Reinfeldt’s right-hand woman.

Van der Kwast has said nothing about the raid yet, but he has previously said he was looking into whether Pihlblad could be guilty of bribery.

The Swedish Journalists’ Union has said that the raid threatens source confidentiality. They say that sources should be able to go to newsrooms without fearing that police officers will burst in while they are there. A fair point indeed.

But what should also be a matter of concern is that police and prosecutors are spending public money on attention-seeking raids over a journalist buying 500 kronor worth of drinks for a source who earned 84,000 kronor a month.

Was this really necessary given that the details of the tab have already been released to the press and when neither of the two people involved deny any of the essential details?

Brits discover easy Swedish living

Society, Swedish Life: November 2nd, 2007 by PO

The Times talks to a couple of Brits who have bought property in Sweden and offers tips to those planning to follow suit.

As Henry Ford might have said, you can have a house in Sweden in any colour you like, as long as it’s red. This red paint is almost as old as the Vikings. It contains copper and iron oxide and was brought from the copper mines by women who were then often hired to paint the wooden buildings.

An added bonus is that the word “gazumping” is mentioned in the article.