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Unfortunately I'm the kind of man that can fail at boiling water, so obviously I missed out on the cooking gene. However, since I often sit in the kitchen with my julöl (christmas beer) cheering my father and aunt on, I think I know a little of what goes into the julkorv.

As far as I know it's pretty much 50% pork, 25% beef and 25% potatoes. I think we've added more beef since my grandma's time though. As they didn't have beef cattle - only a couple of cows for milk, cream and cheese - beef was kind of a luxury. And yeah, that's the only type of korv we make with potatoes as an ingredient. Other than the meat and potatoes we use the stock we get after making our julskinka (christmas ham). Milk and cream also goes into the mix, though I'm not sure how much. For seasoning I only know that they use ginger and allspice, but I'm sure there's more than that. No onions anywhere.

Sorry if that wasn't too informative - I can design a processor from scratch, but cooking is rocket science to me :(

And nobody makes Korv as good as we do! :)

Rawr! If me and my family weren't still Swedes and had this big pond (the Atlantic) blocking our way, we'd challenge you to a julkorv duel! My father is a julkorv grand master, having been trained by his mother - a very traditional farmer's wife who made use of everything the farm produced to make magic things happen in the kitchen.

Unfortunately I don't have more time to brag about my family's julbord now. It's -26 celsius (-15 fahrenheit) outside, but I still have to drive the 100 kilometers (62 miles) to my fathers place. brrr

Meh, if they won't give me gravad lax (salmon cured in salt and sugar), I'll just look for another julbord! Maybe it's because I'm from the Höga Kusten (High Coast) area, where it's hard to find a julbord without several salmon dishes. We usually have lutfisk as well, but I refuse to eat it since I can't stand food that doesn't taste much (the white sause served with it is the only thing that brings any flavour to this horrible fish).

Gravad lax and Zeunert's julmust (preferably last years), and my jul is made :)

According to something called the “Islamic Center” in Malmö, there are around 45,000 people “with a muslim background” there. That’s around 7% of the population. However, there are parts of Malmö, like Rosengård, where 86% have a foreign background (both parents from another country), many of which are muslims.

Personally I'm not too sure that the US would be successful if they asked for Assange to be extradited. There are two hurdles, as I see it, to extradition - first the requirement that what Assange supposedly has done is punishable by year or more in jail if the case was up in a Swedish court. The legal system was not really created with today's border-less society in mind, where information flows freely on the internet and information published in one country can immediately be read in another. One thing that comes to mind is the question of jurisdiction.

Secondly, the applicable law (Lag (1957:668) om utlämning för brott) gives the power to extradite foreign nationals to the cabinet, makinging it a political decision. Having a center-right cabinet takes us from "no way!" to "possible", but the general feeling I get is that the public would be against such an extradition, making it harder for the cabinet to do it.

From the American side they'll probably have problems putting together an indictment that can't be read as everyone publishing the leaks are violating the law. I can't see that the justice department would willingly open up that Pandora's box since that would mean that every news outlet in the US would be just as guilty as Wikileaks. They would have to show that only the "leaker" (i.e. Manning) and the first to publish (Wikileaks) are breaking the law. I think I've read that there has never been a successful case against someone publishing classified information in the US.

Don't take legal advice from me though - I'm just a software designer and has never taken a legal course in my life! :)

My sister was there last year and loved it (Swedish, so no travel restrictions apply). She was impressed by the beaches, the food.. basically everything but the airport they landed at. Can't remember her exact complaints, but I think it was a total lack of air conditioning, or if the AC system had broken down or something. She's really picky about food (I take her out when she visits, my cooking doesn't meet her standards!), so apparently "rich white europeans" are offered nice meals.

Though rare a few years ago, I see more and more travel agencies advertising trips to Cuba these days (in Sweden that is), especially all-inclusive packages.

In other words, I'm not shocked seeing a trip to Cuba as a prize in a contest. Remember that the US is quite alone in having travel restrictions to that silly island.

Sverigedemokraterna isn’t a far-right party at all. They may be tough on immigration issues, but apart from that they’re all over the place, taking their voters from the far left to the far right. The party itself originates from the white supremacy / neo-nazi groups in the 80’s and 90’s but has over time shed most of those elements to fit into mainstream politics. I say “most” because in some local governments they have representatives that are “true to their roots”. I’d call their program “National Socialism Light” and would never consider voting for them.

Indeed, I have some weapons-grade Laphroig around here somewhere

I'm afraid I will have to confiscate that since it clearly violates at least a dozen arms treaties. And do not worry, I have an excellent facility for the destruction of said weapons-grade liquids (my liver).

A rather late reply I'm afraid ;)

A wedding is more a personal occasion than an official one, in my opinion

For almost everyone that is exactly what it should be, but a royal wedding involving the heir to the throne is a bit different. After all, despite the monarchy being no more than representative and ceremonial these days and not giving the royal family any real powers, the union of Victoria and Daniel will (hopefully) give our country a future Head of State within a year or two.

While it may have been more democratic to vote for a groom (and it has been done in magazines since Victoria's birth!), she insisted on deciding herself. Depriving us of that choice, the least she could do was to make the 2-person election a public and official act ;)

"Skev kvinnosyn" can be translated as a "twisted view of women". This term is frequently used by feminists and can mean virtually anything from "he opened the door for his girlfriend, apparently he doesn't think she can open it herself" to "he thinks all women are witches and should be burned at the stakes". Because of overuse, you don't really get much information from the phrase alone.

Without getting too graphic, my inital thought was that he without permission must've shifted target while they were, as you put it, "bending over and taking it" ;)

And the whole area is dotted with AA sites as well. Check this page for a Google Earth kmz file showing Iranian military installations.

I have a hard time seeing how any country would extradite someone for something that’s not a crime locally. What I mean is that publishing US secrets isn’t illegal in Sweden, just as publishing Swedish secrets isn’t illegal in the US.

I don't understand how anyone can believe we can not prosecute for stealing classified information?

The theft itself can and probably is being prosecuted, it's the publishing of this information that might be legal under current laws. I'm guessing that the original source is Bradley Manning.

You are mistaken. Publishing classified information is illegal.

I'm not too sure about that. The SCOTUS decision in New York Times Co. v. United States suggests it's okay for now.

Since when did Ossetians (Iranic) become “ethnic Russians” (East Slavic)?

unlike Laura and Condi who don’t bow to such nonsense

... though Laura Bush recieved some critisism last year on her 'Breast Cancer Awareness Tour' trip to the middle east for doing just that - wearing a head-scarf (in Saudi Arabia).

Personally I think it's good custom to respect local dresscodes when travelling, even if it may be uncomfortable. This is of course especially true when visiting sites of religious significance.

While most western countries pride themselves by being liberal in this sense (for better or worse), I think we'd all raise an eyebrow (or two) if a New Guinea tribesman walked down our streets in their traditional outfit. It would be interesting and a good chuckle, but some might find the... uhm... tube a little too revealing ;)

Aaaah, Combat Boat 90! I so want one of those.

They build these babies a 30-minute drive from where I live, and they're as impressive as they look on the videos. The top models (2200 hp) have a cruising speed of 45 knots and do 50+ flat-out. Boats build entirely for speed, like big RIB boats will of course overtake you, but they don't have twin 50-cal guns and can't support Hellfire missiles or a gyro-stabilized twin-barrel mortar turret ;)

But what's really cool is that you can go from 50+ knots to a full stop in 3 boat lengths. I've seen videos where the Swedish Costal Rangers do beach assaults, and they can almost (*cough* non-regulation speeds *cough*) unload 20 rangers with the boat still hidden from the enormous spray of water a crash-stop produces. Of course, the water jet system also provides great agility on open water and the design of the boat (0,8m draught, ducted water jets, and underwater control surfaces to compliment the rudder control) allows for high-speed turns that seem impossible for such a heavy (~18t) craft.

It's not a boat I'd like to sit in under enemy fire - since it's an all-aluminum construction even small arms slice through it. They've made a slightly safer model that can take 7,62mm Nato Ball rounds.

Be prepared to surrender at least a million dollars for the basic version, and 2.5+ million for the top models.

YouTube video with CB90's (Swedish, Norwegian and Brazilian boats), and another one. Only lame crash-stops though :)

They are self-evidently ridiculous viewpoints from the standpoint of reason and evidence. This isn't.

ID mastermind Behe said (in the Dover trial) that Astrology would be scientific under his revised definition, so I dunno about them being "self-evidently ridiculous". That is, unless ID also is "self-evidently ridiculous" as science (my take on it).

why are you posting a blog that openly bash's Freerepublic?

What blog, and what bashing are you refering to?

It was an attempt to make an alternative viewpoint, one never heard in the educational process, available to students.

Why not get the alternative viewpoints of Astrology, Alchemy, Geocentrism and "Hollow Earth Theory" into the highschool curriculums too? </sarcasm>