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Saturday, June 30th, 2007
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10:53 pm - stolen from contractparty, reposted for tom
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Man gets sick benefits for heavy metal addiction
Published: 19th June 2007 15:12 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/7650/
A Swedish heavy metal fan has had his musical preferences officially classified as a disability. The results of a psychological analysis enable the metal lover to supplement his income with state benefits.
Roger Tullgren, 42, from Hässleholm in southern Sweden has just started working part time as a dishwasher at a local restaurant.
Because heavy metal dominates so many aspects of his life, the Employment Service has agreed to pay part of Tullgren's salary. His new boss meanwhile has given him a special dispensation to play loud music at work.
"I have been trying for ten years to get this classified as a handicap," Tullgren told The Local.
"I spoke to three psychologists and they finally agreed that I needed this to avoid being discriminated against."
Roger Tullgren first developed an interest in heavy metal when his older brother came home with a Black Sabbath album in 1971.
Since then little else has mattered for the 42-year-old, who has long black hair, a collection of tattoos and wears skull and crossbones jewelry.
The ageing rocker claims to have attended almost three hundred shows last year, often skipping work in the process.
Eventually his last employer tired of his absences and Tullgren was left jobless and reliant on welfare handouts.
But his sessions with the occupational psychologists led to a solution of sorts: Tullgren signed a piece of paper on which his heavy metal lifestyle was classified as a disability, an assessment that entitles him to a wage supplement from the job centre.
"I signed a form saying: 'Roger feels compelled to show his heavy metal style. This puts him in a difficult situation on the labour market. Therefore he needs extra financial help'. So now I can turn up at a job interview dressed in my normal clothes and just hand the interviewers this piece of paper," he said.
The manager at his new workplace allows him to go to concerts as long as he makes up for lost time at a later point. He is also allowed to dress as he likes and listen to heavy metal while washing up.
"But not too loud when there are guests," he said.
The Local spoke to an occupational psychologist in Stockolm, who admitted to being baffled by the decision.
"I think it's extremely strange. Unless there is an underlying diagnosis it is absolutely unbelievable that the job centre would pay pay out.
"If somebody has a gambling addiction, we don't send them down to the racetrack. We try to cure the addiction, not encourage it," he said.
Henrietta Stein, deputy employment director for the Skåne region, is also puzzled by the move; "an interest in music" is not usually sufficient to qualify for wage benefits.
"Certain cases are confidential but in general there is always a medical reason that is well-documented," she said.
Tullgren currently plays bass and guitar in two rock bands and says that he tends to get a lot of positive reactions for daring to be himself.
"Some might say that I should grow up and learn to listen to other types of music but I can't. Heavy metal is my lifestyle," he said.
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, May 4th, 2007
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10:57 am
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</form> Western. Like Midland, Western is another accent that people consider neutral. So, you might not actually be from the Western half of the country, but you definitely sound like it. Take this quiz now - it's easy!
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, April 20th, 2007
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10:33 am
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Venezuela launches Zeppelin to tackle rampant crime
By Christian OliverThu Apr 19, 6:44 PM ET
Venezuela launched a Zeppelin on Thursday to patrol Caracas, seeking to fight crime in one of Latin America's most dangerous cities but also raising fears that President Hugo Chavez could be turning into Big Brother.
Around the hot-dog stalls of the run-down suburb where the airship took its first flight, most people felt the unmanned eye-in-the-sky could help counter routine hold-ups, shootings and carjackings.
"It is a necessity," said street vendor Pedro Marin when asked about the 15-meter helium-filled blimp that had been looming silently over his stall beside a busy highway.
The $465,000 Zeppelin, built by South Korean firm HanGIS, is the first of three such craft that will beam images into a command center. Police will be able to control the blimps remotely, steering them over the city of about 5 million.
In the refined cafes of east Caracas, there was more cynicism, condemning the blimps as a waste of money that would not work in bad weather or at night, when Caracas is at its most risky, resembling a shuttered-up ghost town.
"It reminds me of 1984, of George Orwell. This is Big Brother. It is not going to solve crime," said Jose Luis, a lawyer who declined to give his family name.
Blimps also fired debates about infringing civil liberties when used in New York and at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
There has been a strong sense of the state keeping tabs on the opposition in Venezuela since a 2004 recall referendum against Chavez, which the president won easily.
Those who signed a petition seeking the referendum complain their identities were made public, affecting their chances of employment in the state sector.
CENTRALIZED POWER
Venezuela's opposition accuses Chavez, hugely popular among the poor majority, of damaging democracy by politicizing state institutions and centralizing power around himself.
The anti-U.S. leader is forming a single governing party, nationalizing huge swathes of the economy and refusing to renew the license of an opposition television channel.
Despite such accusations of growing state control, Ramon Morales Rossi, security chief at the mayor's office, told reporters at the launch there were no grounds for fears the Zeppelin was up to anything sinister.
"If you are just walking in the street, no worries. The intention is to try to lessen crime which is very serious. It is a huge, important issue and the government recognizes it as such," he said.
Venezuela has the world's highest death rate from guns, according to the United Nations, with 34 deaths in every 100,000 caused by firearms. Brazil is second with 22 in every 100,000. Caracas itself has stopped issuing the statistics.
Crime affects all strata of society, from shantytowns where the majority of killings take place to exclusive neighborhoods where villas are ringed by razor wire and electric fences.
When asked about the running joke in Caracas that hardened criminals will simply shoot down any Zeppelin keeping an eye on them, Morales Rossi said the craft was compartmentalized to account for the loss of gas owing to a puncture.
"And it is out of range," he added.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Thursday, March 29th, 2007
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3:06 pm
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9:15
i have been sleeping horribly the last few nights.
11-9 shift today should be fun.
tonight i'm taking a sleeping pill. forget this waking up all hours of the night.
3:06
i forgot to tell you the good news.
i have the highest grade in my monday class.
and i got a 100 on my wed class test and 95 (highest grade) on the practical. he posted the grades. i also noticed that 2 other ppl did just as badly as i did on the 1st one, and one person even did worse. (we're down to 8 girls now.) i told him i didn't hate him anymore, but that i was still mad about the 1st one. hah. he seemed amused. which is a radical improvement b.c. i think he was scared at how mad i was at him when i got my last grade.
p.s.
pix for you
graffiti stickers
stolen from mcpuggington
http://mcpuggington.livejournal.com/676862.html?view=3970814&style=mine#t3970814
make sure you scroll up to see em all.
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, March 6th, 2007
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1:19 pm - mary and bobby's wedding pix
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| Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
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7:53 pm - new kitten pix ; )
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| Friday, January 12th, 2007
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2:34 pm
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stolen from EJ
"Blessed Art Thou," by North Carolina artist Kate Kretz
that features actress Angelina Jolie and her three children
hovering in the heavens above a Wal-Mart.
Kretz says she's intrigued by the public fascination with celebrities.
The painting will be shown at Art Miami, an arts show."
more here
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, December 12th, 2006
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11:28 pm - You have your own passions, but they are not the same as a man's...not so strong as a man's
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this was a pretty incredible article (written by a man btw) that i stumbled upon by accident. it is chockfull of do's and don'ts for all you ladies and yr unGodly fashion.
THE SIN OF BATHSHEBA
And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house:and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself;and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.II Samuel 11:2
We hear a great deal about the sin of David, but seldom does anyone mention the sin of Bath-sheba. And it is true enough that David's sin was very great, and Bath-sheba's very small. David's sin was deliberate and presumptuous; Bath-sheba's only a sin of carelessness. David committed deliberate adultery and murder; Bath-sheba only carelessly and undesignedly exposed herself before David's eyes. We have no doubt that David's sin was great, and Bath-sheba's small.
Yet it remains a fact that Bath-sheba's little sin was the cause of David's great sin. Her little sin of ignorance, her little thoughtless and careless exposure of herself, was the spark that kindled a great devouring flame. "Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" (James 3:5) On the one side, it was only a little carelessness —only a little thoughtless, unintentional exposure of herself before the eyes of David. But on the other side, adultery and guilt of conscience; murder and the loss of a husband, besides the death in battle of other innocent men; great occasion for the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme; the shame of an illegitimate pregnancy, and the death of the child; the uprising and death of Absolom; and the defiling of David's wives in the sight of all Israel; and the sword never departing from David's house. (IISam. 12:11-18) Again I say, "Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" None of this great evil would ever have taken place if Bath-sheba had only been careful not to display her body in the sight of a man. Observe: she neither designed nor foresaw any of this evil, yet she was the occasion of it all. She did not display herself purposefully or wantonly: she only did it ignorantly and thoughtlessly. Yet the results of her little sin of ignorance were just the same as if it had been purposeful wantonness.
( booya_bathsheeba )
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, December 8th, 2006
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3:16 pm
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2 packs of Elysee Star dreads
red and snow white with red swirls and glitter thread
click pic below for auction!
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, October 24th, 2006
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12:41 am - only b.c. it came up in conversation
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| Tuesday, October 10th, 2006
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1:50 pm
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Feudalism: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.
Pure Socialism: You have two cows. The government takes the cows and puts them in a barn with everyone one elses cows. You have to take care of all the cows but the government gives you as much milk as you need.
Bureaucratic Socialism: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone elses cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs as current regulations allow.
Facism: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.
Pure Communism: You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them and you all share the milk.
Russian Communism: You have two cows. You have to take care of them but the government takes all the milk.
Dictatorship: You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.
Singaporian Democracy: You have two cows. The government fines you for keeping two unlicensed farm animals in an apartment.
Militarianism: You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you for service.
Pure Democracy: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.
Representative Democracy: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to decide who gets the milk.
American Democracy: The government promises to give you two cows if you vote for their party. After the election, the President is impeached for speculating in cow futures and the press dubs the affair, "Cowgate".
British Democracy: You have two cows. You feed them sheep brains and they go mad. The government does nothing.
Pure Bureacracy: You have two cows. At first, the government regulates what and when you can feed them as well as when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. After that, it takes both cows, shoots one, milks the other, and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.
Anarchy: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair market price or the neighbors try to kill you and take the cows.
Capitalism: You have two cows. You sell one and purchase a bull.
Hong Kong Capitalism: You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly-listed company using letters of credit obtained by your brother in law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax deduction for keeping five cows. The milk rights of six cows are transferred via a Panamanian intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by a majority stockholder, who sells the rights to all seven cows milk back to the listed company. � The annual report states that the company owns eight cows with an option on one more. Meanwhile, you kill the two cows due to bad Feng Shui.
Environmentalism: You have two cows. The government bans milking or killing cows.
Feminism: You have two cows. They get married and adopt a veal calf.
Totalitarianism: You have two cows. The government takes both and denies they ever existed. Milk is banned.
Political Correctness: You have two cows. Since ownership is a symbol of the phallo-centric, war mongering and intolerant past, the government describes you as associated with two differently-aged (but no less valuable to society) bovines of non-specified gender.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Thursday, September 28th, 2006
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11:55 am - latex ballerina dress, on sale!
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| Tuesday, September 26th, 2006
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3:19 pm - contribute to fight breast cancer!
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| Friday, April 28th, 2006
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12:41 pm - only in south florida?
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i wish i had a dollar for every time i encountered some girl with fake boobs, no bra, and a sparkly "bebe" shirt.
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(9 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, March 1st, 2006
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3:20 pm
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my dreads are ready! she's shipping them out on friday:
(meanwhile i have still yet to hear about when i can xpect to receive my 2 month old order from fauxyhair.com. grrr.)
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(7 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, September 24th, 2005
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5:27 pm - antisocial gets you nowhere
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mostly i go around thinking that i have come to like ppl, and am able to socialize properly... and then something happens, and i realize, no i'm still completely anti-social and hate ppl... i've just become mostly good at faking it.
take the grocery store for xample.
which happens to be where i just came from. first stop, the deli. i get my #, cross my arms, and find the least obtrusive place to put my cart. here comes a not-old-enough-to-be-cute, old guy. (this is boca raton, we have several variations of old dudes.) "what's the matter, you in a bad mood?" i stare blankly at him. "you've got your arms crossed." i tell him "i just don't like grocery shopping, especially when there are this many ppl in the store." i uncross my arms and think, great, a talker. i'm wearing a feminist tshirt. i lean over the cart trying to ignore grocery shoppers once again. "someone's daydreaming" the old guy accuses me from 5 ft away. (wtf?!) i ignore him. eventually my # is up. thank someone. i'm waiting for my swiss cheese, and he maneuvers over once again. "so you're never planning on being a housewife? because then you'll have to do alot of grocery shopping." "not if i can help it." i retort dryly. "you're just going to be single for the rest of your life?" he asks. so i very loudly yell at the guy "DON'T YOU THINK THOSE ARE SOME PRETTY PERSONAL QUESTIONS TO BE ASKING A TOTAL STRANGER AT THE GROCERY STORE!?!" to which he replies "i've known you your whole life!" thank god i was able to ignore him some more till my turkey was ready, and scooted out of there. JEEZUS! and all the stocking guys kept looking me over, but at least they weren't FUCKING NUTS!
anyway, that is my story.
my mom asked me earlier what is the point of my ears being stretched b.c. she noticed that you can see through my ear with my 4g flesh tunnels, and went on to tell me how it grossed her out. before i went to the store i popped in some 2g black ones. on my way home i thought about this once again. obviously the point is NOT to discourage weirdos from talking to me, or stock guys from checking me out, huh?
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, July 16th, 2005
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9:40 am
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| Thursday, June 2nd, 2005
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11:59 pm
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hi!
i've been having lots of fun, working more and all over the place, so the updates have not been plentiful. i did a photoshoot with liz steiner and if you wanna see go to lizsteiner.com because my copy and past doesn't work, and i don't feel like going to the other computer. ; )
i signed up for all my nursing classes for fall yesterday, and finished up my forms today. i got fingerprinted today, and apparently i hardly have any prints. which is very strange for a girl my age. i told them they might have gotten sanded off from when i did ceramics on the wheel for years, because there was alot of grit in the clay, and i know it used to sand down my nails. plus she asked if i wash my hands alot. which i totally do. sometimes i wash them, and forget, and remember while i'm washing them again. a lil bit OCD, i know. so i'd make a great super villian. woot! nanny nanny boo boo!
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, May 9th, 2005
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12:15 pm - kickball recap, FASHION WEEK, by liz steiner
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this week was "fashion week" at kickball, oh yes, we were really pushing the envelope of haute couture here...
mary & i, awww...we were actually in the middle of a play here, i was supposed to be running to 2nd base, but then i did when i realized, i made it, no worries. = )
( +10 )
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(10 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, April 19th, 2005
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10:52 am
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ok, back to my normal self. freshly dyed black hair, thin eyebrows, and eyeliner. no more of this natural crap! i'm gonna put my streaks in later.
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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starrryswirl's journal
