Miljöpartiet selling out

I guess anyone who believed in Miljöpartiet's election promises on surveillance is feeling pretty ashamed today. Only 3 days after the elections a representative of the party, Isabelle Lövin manage to vote - brace yourself - in favor of the positively insane Gallo report, a report named after its equally insane (or completely corrupt) creator, Marielle Gallo. Read Isabelle Lövins pathetic excuse here. Notice how she uses a clearly fake petition signed among others by deceased filmmakers, to justify her vote for increased surveillance and oppression.

The report, for those of you unfamiliar with it, states on one hand that we don't know enough about the effects of file sharing (clearly all the independent research done over the last couple of years is irrelevant, as it doesn't support the view of the entertainment business), and on the other hand that this doesn't matter at all and that ISP's should be forced to monitor the users for illegal file sharing activities, and also risk liability should they not take action in a manner acceptable to the entertainment industry. In other words, legislation first, facts second. My oh my, if every industry could order oppressive legislation just like that...

Oh yeah, and the report also states that file sharing may lead to health risks. Really. That's just  how insane it is, and how dumb Isabelle Lövin and the other pathetic bastards voting in favor of this report are.

So, by voting in favor of this report, let's have a look at how this is honoring  Miljöpartiet's election promises, made only 3 days ago:

Att staten inte ska ha möjlighet att registrera och övervaka all internettrafik i Sverige. Right, we'll let the ISP's do the surveillance instead, and threaten them with liability if they don't cooperate.

Skapa en balanserad upphovsrätt och avkriminalisera fildelning för privat bruk.
Umm, yeah, a balanced copyright legislation is exactly what the Gallo report is all about...

Of course, traditional media refuse to pick up on this. Instead they're publishing a story on how 70% of Swedish voters have confidence in the politicians. Yeah, I wonder why.

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.

Miljöpartiet wants your money

Miljöpartiet (Mp) needs money to finance their highly hypothetical national budget. They've already promised their miserable, masochist voters higher income taxes, but obviously that's not enough. Now they want to increase the fuel taxes as well, which will add another 2 kronor on the petrol price.

My only question is why? It sure as hell isn't to save the environment. Today the first generation of "environment cars", miljöbilar, are already up to an impressive 37 percent market share, up 20 percent from last year. These cars are boring as hell, with tiny diesel engines (Volvo DRIVe) or poor handling (Toyota Prius), but people are still buying them - to contribute to the environment and to save money on fuel, on toll charges and on the company car taxation.

When plug-in hybrids hit the market around 2012 or so I suspect the environmental car market share will increase significantly. Seeing as these cars will cover most of their daily driving without burning as much as a liter of fuel not only will they make the fuel price less relevant, they will also contribute to less local pollution. Let us not forget that this second generation of environmentally friendly cars will also be bigger, perform better, and be more suited for a broader public.

And after the plug-in hybrid era perhaps we've got pure electric cars waiting around the corner? Powered by some new battery technology or by hydrogen? All I know is that the research is moving away from the traditional fossil fuel combustion engines fast, and that there is absolutely no sense in pestering the regular car owners with an increased fuel tax at this point. We're simply waiting for an environmentally friendly car that can suit our needs, ok? If anything go bother the car manufacturers to increase their R&D speed.

My guess is that Miljöpartiet is suggesting this moronic tax increase to satisfy their bitter, car-hating core voters. There simply is no other explanation.

Money money money

No Swede could have missed the scandal surrounding Gotland's "landshövding" Marianne Samuelsson, who believes the rich and influential should most definitely be treated differently than the common man when it comes to building permits in protected areas, i.e. areas where you are normally not allowed to build anything. In other words, if you've got money and power, you'll be allowed to build a palace right on the beach, or inside a nature reserve. If you're not, forget it, you'll have to obey the law.

The funny thing is that she's still fully convinced there should not be equality for the law, and the only thing she regrets is that her views were caught on tape and ended up in the media.

And the real icing on the cake is the fact that Samuelsson used to be the spokesperson for Miljöpartiet, the Environmental Party, a political party fighting for the preservation of nature, not the exploitation of nature by rich and powerful people who stand above the law.

The red-green coalition kick off their election campaign

The three parties forming the red-green coalition, Socialdemokraterna, Vänsterpartiet and Miljöpartiet, kicked off their election campaign today by announcing that if they win the election next year, they promose to - in good socialist manner - re-introduce the ridiculously unfair housing tax, and thus seeing to it that only the filthy rich will be allowed to inhabit a house with a taxable value of over 4,5 million SEK (which means quite a lot of the properties in the Stockholm region...). Good on them. I mean, who cares about the old grandmother who's lived in that big old house in Lidingö her whole life? About bloody time she sold it and moved to a nursing home, isn't it?

Funnily enough the tax on apartments is suggested to be lowered. So the big picture here is that those who don't make a fortune shouldn't live in houses, they should sell it and settle for an apartment. Preferably a small, grey, boring one in a depressing suburb. Nice, socialist way of thinking.

Brilliant work, guys. You're sure to gain votes on this one!