Burqa in school: Who the hell aced that exam last week?

There is a debate in Swedish media these days on whether to ban the use of burqa in school, for both teachers and pupils. The latter one seems to be the most infected.

Those opposing the ban point out that it violates the personal integrity of the pupils. Fair enough, I'm all for personal integrity as you may know. However what I want to know is, if anyone can hide their face at school, how are teachers expected to know who was hiding behind the veil on last weeks math exam? Was it Lisa, who belongs in this class or perhaps her older math-genious sister Vera?

Photo: jolipunk.com

Ban studded winter tires and brakes

Miljöpartiet, that bunch of no-good tree-huggers who are only out to make life more miserable for the average Swede, or so it seems, have announced that they would like a ban on studded winter tires in the entire city of Stockholm. Apparently creating chaos on just one street isn't enough.

What these morons fail to realize though is that car brakes, when used, emit an equal amount of polluting particles. So why not simply ban the use of car brakes as well, while you're at it? If any motorist is observed using the brakes he or she should be presented with a shockingly high fine, as well as a damn good beating. That'll teach those bastards to pollute the fresh Stockholm air.

Or you could do the smart thing and introduce a tax for using studded tires, making it possible for those who need such tires to actually travel to Stockholm without stopping along the way to change tires - provided they pay the mandatory studded tire tax. That way the use of studded tires will decline, the city will make some money out of it, and we won't be plagued by yet another stupid ban.

Restrictions, restrictions...

Politicians never get tired of trying to restrict people's freedom, in any way possible. The latest, and probably least serious although extremely annoying, pointless and unnecessary is banning smokeless tobacco, snus, for council workers during working hours. This has been introduced by a number of municipalities in Sweden lately.

I'm struggling to understand how these municipalities are justifying this completely pointless invasion of people's personal life.

• Snus doesn't make workers less productive, as they are able to continue working while using it. Also, the users' mental state isn't altered in any way that could possibly affect work.
• Snus doesn't bother any third parties, unless looking at a person with a snus under his or her lip bothers you (in which case you should have your head examined).
  
• Snus is a legal substance.

What will be next? Banning coffee during work? Banning looking through the window during work? You can't just go and ban something because you don't like it. Stupid, ignorant bastards.

A ban is always best

So, the Swedish government has decided that cars on winter tires with studs can now be banned from entering certain streets in certain cities. Another brilliant decision by our finest.

This means everyone using studded tires will have to make unnecessary detours to avoid these regulated streets. It also means somebody will have to follow up and make sure that the ban is actually working, handing out fines to those who are caught driving in the "no studs" streets on studs. What an incredible waste of police resources.

Instead of this ridiculous ban, why not impose a charge for motorists who for whatever reason feel the need to use tires with studs during the winter? The driver could pay a fee of say 500 SEK per season in order to drive inside the Stockholm toll zone. This would definitely reduce the amount of people driving on studs, it would let those who still need the studs keep them, and it would generate money. But noooo, a ban is always best.