mmm, i went to tops today and found out they had golden neck clams on sale for 96 cents a dozen. i bought eight dozen and steamed them with garlic, leeks, dill, onions, chicken broth, olive oil and salt and pepper.

they were so super duper fantastic that i will go tomorrow and buy a ton more and eat clams all week long. i had maybe a total 15 clams while my family and friends gobbled the rest down. wow, 84 clams for under 8 bucks.

my flower pot bussines is coming along very nicely. i have tons of orders to fill. one woman at work ordered a dozen when i gave her one as a gift. they make great gifts as you can stuff them with all sorts of things and wrap them in celophane and a bow. planning on making haloween, christmas, valentines and easter themed ones.

i will post pics of my newest creations soon. and if any one needs some pots as gifts or for your porch, let me know.

it was so cold this weekend that i stayed in and had my own art festival. painted two ugly green tables for my mom and some flower pots that i will give to my coworker as a gift for giving me the BPO tickets.

here are the two tables, wish i had before and after pics.





and the flower pots.








and here are the baby birds that are nesting on our patio. you have no idea how much they eat!




and here is where we will be having a pool party in august.

went to the BPO yesterday. it was phenomenal!
i never knew that joanne falletta was one of only two female orchestral conductors in the world!!

more stories of my crazy kid.

couple of days ago i get a call from her social studies teacher saying that faben recorded her lecture on some kind of recording device and that she did not appreciate being recorded in any way, shape or form.

when faben gets home i ask her what she was doing and she proceeds to tell me that the class was misbehaving and the teacher yelled at them asking why can't they just behave themselves.

so faben took it upon herself to tell the teacher that if her class wasnt so boring, maybe they would behave better. she says to the teacher that maybe if she gave them projects to do instead of worksheets and constant lectures then theyd be more interested in the class.

the teacher then started to cry! (this is the second time this year she cried in front of the class)

so when she had her break down, faben recorded her on her mp3 player and played it to other kids after class ended.

evil little monster. gotta give her credit for at least telling the truth.


my fucking headaches are killing me.

So if capitalism and communisim are both proving usuccessful, maybe we should look at our friends in Northern Europe, i.e. Nordic countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway, etc.

The Nordic model
by Stein Kuhnle



In comparison with the rest of Europe, the Nordic general welfare states share twelve fairly distinct characteristics which, taken together, may be regarded as a specifically Nordic "model". Those characteristics are:

1. A greater degree of active state involvement than in other countries. For example, the state guarantees basic pensions and free or heavily subsidised health services for all residents, although the delivery of such services is usually administered by provincial or local governments.

2. By international standards, the greatest proportion of the labour force employed in the social, health and educational sectors-- roughly thirty percent.

3. Heavy reliance on the public sector for the provision of social and educational services; roughly ninety percent of all personnel in those sectors are public employees. The corresponding figures for other European countries range from 40-80 percent; in the U.S., the figure is 45 percent.

4. The organization of social insurance within co-ordinated national systems which have overall responsibility for basic pensions, sick-leave benefits, child allowances and health services.

5. A comparatively high level of trust between citizens and governments. Nordic societies are more "state-friendly" than other European societies.

6. Comprehensive, or universal, social insurance systems which cover entire populations or sub-groups. For example: every resident is entitled to a basic old-age pension upon attaining retirement age, even in the absence of any history of gainful employment; child allowances are allocated to all families with children, regardless of income level; all residents are entitled to the best available medical services, irrespective of income, social status or other personal characteristics. This contrasts with most other European countries, where entitlement is conditional on successful participation in the labour market.

7. An advanced level of gender equality, especially as a result of legislation since the 1970s; essentially all benefits are "gender-neutral", in that women are treated as individuals with needs and rights of their own, rather than as merely wives and mothers. Nordic labour markets are characterised by high rates of female employment, nearly-equal incomes for men and women in comparable occupations, and a well-developed support system for working mothers.

8. Social insurance systems free of class or occupational bias. Those with high incomes are included in the same system as those with low or no incomes.

9. General taxation as the principal means of financing, which has the effect of redistributing income. As a result of the Nordic countries' universal, redistributive social insurance systems, their poverty rates are among the lowest in the world. Minimum pensions are not especially high, but generous in comparison with those of most other countries.

10. A greater emphasis on providing services, as opposed to direct income transfers, than in other European countries. Those services include an extensive network of child-care centres, old-age homes, and in-home assistance for the severely ill and the elderly.

11. A traditionally strong emphasis on full employment as a goal in itself, and as a prerequisite for generating the necessary economic resources for the general welfare state.

12. Strong popular support. Such issues as children's well-being, public health, old-age care, etc., are consistently accorded the highest priority in opinion surveys and during elections. No political party seeking broad support can afford to ignore them.
        


I have taken the liberty to compile a few statistics comparing the United States with some of the Nordic states. The results are quite interesting.

All stats are from NationMaster, World Statistics Country Comparison, who compile stats from various sources such as The United Nations, WHO, and other governmenal organizations.

Total taxation as % of GDP by country

Sweden     54.2 % of GDP     
Denmark     48.8 % of GDP     
Finland     46.9 % of GDP     
Norway     40.3 % of GDP     
United States    29.6 % of GDP     

Personal income tax by country
    
Denmark     53.2%     
United States 37.7%     
Finland     31.2%     
Sweden     30.4%     
Norway     24.8%     


Personal income tax by country

DEFINITION: Property tax as a percentage of total tax collected by the country. Data is for 2000.

United States    10.1%     
Sweden     3.4%     
Denmark     3.3%     
Finland     2.5%     
Norway     2.4%     
    


Taxation Statistics >Contribution by middle 40% by country

DEFINITION: Proportion of taxes paid by the broad income group - middle class 40% (Data is for mid-1990s). Taxes include all direct income taxes, including employee social security contributions. Income groups were built on the basis of final disposable adjusted income.

Denmark     37.2%     
Norway     36.1%     
Sweden     35.8%     
Finland     33.4%     
United States    28.4%     
    

Social security >Employees contribution by country
DEFINITION: Tax on employee's contribution of social security as a percentage of total tax collected by the country. Data is for 2002.

United States    11.7%     
Norway     7.7%     
Sweden     5.8%     
Finland     4.7%     
Denmark     2.7%     
    

Social security > Contribution by employer by country
DEFINITION: Tax on employer's contribution of social security as a percentage of total tax collected by the country. Data is for 2002.

Sweden     24.3%     
Finland     20.0%     
Norway     13.7%     
United States 13.0%     
Denmark 0.7%     


Church attendance by country

United States    44%     
Norway     5%     
Denmark      5%     
Finland     4%     
Sweden     4%     

Disabled persons employment by country


Norway     72%     
Sweden     69%     
Denmark     61%     
Finland     59%     
United States 58%     

Disbility benefit recipients by country

Norway     9.2%     
Sweden     8.2%     
Denmark     7.7%     
United States    4.7%     


Obesity by country

United States     30.6%     
Finland      12.8%     
Sweden      9.7%     
Denmark      9.5%     
Norway      8.3%     

McDonalds restaurants (per capita) by country

United States    0.433 per 10,000 population     
Sweden    0.252 per 10,000 population     
Denmark    0.182 per 10,000 population     
Finland    0.178 per 10,000 population     
Norway    0.12 per 10,000 population     

Military Statistics > Expenditures > Dollar figure (per $ GDP) by country

United States    $0.24 per $10 of GDP     
Sweden     $0.13 per $10 of GDP     
Norway     $0.12 per $10 of GDP     
Denmark     $0.10 per $10 of GDP     
Finland     $0.10 per $10 of GDP     


Lifestyle Statistics > Happiness level > Not very or not at all happy by country

United States    8%     
Finland     8%     
Norway     6%     
Denmark     5%     
Sweden     4%     


Lifestyle Statistics > Very proud of their nationality by country

United States    77%     
Norway     48%     
Finland 44%     
Sweden     43%     
Denmark     42%     

Lifestyle Statistics > Will fight for country by country


Norway     90%     
Sweden     90%     
Denmark     89%     
Finland      86%     
United States 78%     

Labor Statistics > Employment rate of highly educated women by country

Denmark     88.7%     
Sweden     87.8%     
Norway     87.3%     
Finland     84.8%     
United States    81.9%     


Labor Statistics > Female doctors by country

Finland     50.7%     
Sweden     39.2%     
Norway     37.2%     
Denmark     27.0%     
United States    23.1%     


Labor Statistics > Unemployment by country

Finland     9.5%     
United States    5.0%     
Denmark     4.8%     
Sweden     4.4%     
Norway     3.5%     

Labor Statistics > Unemployment benefit as % of GDP by country

Denmark     3.4 % of GDP     
Finland     2.6 % of GDP     
Sweden     1.9 % of GDP     
Norway     0.5 % of GDP     
United States    0.2 % of GDP     


Labor Statistics > Working mothers by country

Sweden     76     
Denmark     74     
Norway     73     
United States    61     
Finland     59     

Health Statistics > Births by caesarean section by country

United States    211 live births per 1,000 pe     
Finland     157 live births per 1,000 pe     
Denmark     145 live births per 1,000 pe     
Sweden     144 live births per 1,000 pe     
Norway     137 live births per 1,000 pe     


Health Statistics > Child maltreatment deaths by country

United States    2.2 per 100,000 children     
Finland     0.7 per 100,000 children     
Denmark      0.7 per 100,000 children     
Sweden     0.5 per 100,000 children     
Norway     0.3 per 100,000 children     


Health Statistics > Out-of-pocket expenditure as % of private
health expenditure by country

Sweden     100%     
Norway     97.2%     
Denmark     89.8%     
Finland     82.2%     
United States 25.4%


Literacy > Adults at high literacy level by country

Sweden     35.5%     
Norway     29.4%     
Denmark     25.4%     
Finland     25.1%     
United States 19.0%     


Proportion of primary education time spent learning foreign languages by country

Denmark     10
Finland     9
Norway     16
Sweden     12
United States    7


Public spending per student > Tertiary level by country

Denmark     65.1     
Sweden     53.5     
Norway     46.5     
Finland     39.7     
United States    23.9     


Child poverty by country

United States    22.4     
Denmark     5.1     
Finland     4.3     
Norway     3.9     
Sweden     2.6     


Distribution of family income > Gini index by country
DEFINITION: This index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country. The index is calculated from the Lorenz curve, in which cumulative family income is plotted against the number of families arranged from the poorest to the rich

United States 45.0     
Norway     25.8     
Finland     25.6     
Sweden 25.0     
Denmark     24.7     


Income distribution > Poorest 10% by country
DEFINITION: Share of income or consumption (%). The distribution of income is typically more unequal than the distribution of consumption.

Finland     4.2%     
Norway     4.1%     
Sweden     3.7%     
Denmark     3.6%     
United States    1.8%     


Income distribution > Richest 10% by country
DEFINITION: Share of income or consumption (%). The distribution of income is typically more unequal than the distribution of consumption.

United States    30.5%     
Norway     21.8%     
Finland     21.6%     
Denmark     20.5%     
Sweden     20.1%


Population below median income by country
DEFINITION: Population living below 50% of median income (%)

United States    17.0     
Denmark     9.2     
Norway     6.9     
Sweden     6.6     
Finland     5.4     

Aid to Afghanistan > Total development aid, estimates (per $ GDP) by country

Norway     $457.44 per $10,000 of GDP     
Denmark     $284.43 per $10,000 of GDP     
Sweden     $229.73 per $10,000 of GDP     
Finland     $160.62 per $10,000 of GDP     
United States     $71.51 per $10,000 of GDP     


Funds committed to Tsunami aid (per $ GDP) by country

Norway     0.076 per $100     
Sweden     0.034 per $100     
Finland     0.029 per $100     
Denmark     0.024 per $100     
United States    0.007 per $100     

Funds pledged by NGOs and public (per $ GDP) by country (Tsunami)

Norway     $490,710.00 per $1 billion     
Sweden     $282,694.00 per $1 billion     
Denmark     $206,422.00 per $1 billion     
Finland     $151,455.00 per $1 billion     
United States     $55,574.50 per $1 billion     

    

Parliamentary seats > Female by country

Sweden      43%     
Finland      37%     
Norway      36%     
United States     13%     


Parliamentary elections > Registered voter turnout by country
DEFINITION: The proportion of registered voters who actually voted.

Denmark      87.1%     
Sweden      80.1%     
Norway      75.1%     
Finland      65.3%     
United States     63.8%     
    

Assaults (per capita) by country

United States    7.56923 per 1,000 people     
Finland     5.32644 per 1,000 people     
Norway     3.2064 per 1,000 people     
Denmark     1.80339 per 1,000 people     


Rapes (per capita) by country

United States    0.301318 per 1,000 people     
Norway     0.120836 per 1,000 people     
Finland     0.110856 per 1,000 people     
Denmark     0.0914948 per 1,000 people
    
Murders (per capita) by country

United States     0.042802 per 1,000 people     
Finland     0.0283362 per 1,000 people     
Denmark     0.0106775 per 1,000 people     
Norway     0.0106684 per 1,000 people     

ok
finally
it's done

we were able to get it on VHS and send it off overnight. $42 for fedex!

keep your toes crossed for us!

ok, everyone we've finished our audition tape for amazing race, and we bought 17 types of cable and accessories in order to get it form camcorder to computer and computer to tv and tv to vcr.

we were so close! but unfortunately we cannot get the movie onto a VHS tape!

we used s video cord to get it onto a tv, but somehow we are unable to get the VCR to record the footage.

SO WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!

this has to be sent out tomorrow, is there anyone who would be able to record this file onto a vhs tape for us? i can send you the file, its about 35MB.

PLEASE HELP!! if i win the million bucks i will personaly give 10,000 to the person who helps us, i swear!

you can view it on youtube here
when it starts, press pause and let it load first, that way you can watch it without it stopping while it loads.

went to the falls yesterday and sweated my fucking ass off! it was 96 degrees, and although i do a lot of shit, i don't do 96 degrees. the only saving grace was the mist from the falls which lowered the temp about 20 points.

we drove there in (e:nejifer) 's convertible and were extra, extra, supa, dupa, fly, looking like movie stars, until we got out of the car and our hair wais fucked to high hell and our faces were melting off.

we ran around the falls like mad women, while pretending we were pirates, flamenco dancers, bull fighters, babkas's and muslim women. you might get to see it in the footage if we can work out the technical difficulties.

out secret project that we set out to do might get finished today and when it is, we will try to post it somewhere.

here is a photo of (e:ladycroft) and i, in the secret garden




and here is (e:ladycroft) looking very virginal while thinking very, very dirty thoughts! (better not be about my secret lover, jared leto!)




and here she is a la grace kelley style.




last one, lc and (e:nejifer) the beauties that they are!

i witnessed a hit and run accident today on elmwood and cleveland. some chick was turning left from cleveland onto elmwood and didn't quite make the turn and rammed into a parked car, then she backed up and rammed the car again! she stopped and ran into amie and amy salon (spelling?) and ran back into her car and pulled off. didn't leave a note or nothing.

luckily we got her plates and called it into the police department, but they wont do anything unless the person who's car was hit, calls them first!

we were in a hurry back to work so we could not leave a note either.

if anyone knows someone who's car was parked on elmwood at cleveland at about 3pm and got two huge dents and scratches, let me know. the hit car was a beige plymouth breeze. it had a car seat in the back.

the chick drove a black hondaish car with the plates

BEN 5077

i hate shitty people!

my friend has been blowing up my phone all day and not leaving a message. thinking she just wanted to go out to eat, i ignored her, until i realized that she never calls more than once a day and usually leaves a message.

when i called back, she greeted me with the news that our mutual friend working here in the states from germany, was arrested for vehicular homicide. he killed a 33 year old father of 3 while driving drunk. slammed right into his car when he crossed the double yellow line. he himself has two children who live in europe.

his company posted bond at $100,000. but there is no getting around anything here. he will be doing a minimum of eight years. we are devistated. for the man who lost his life. for his children, and for the stupid choices my friend made and for his grim future. you can read the news here

so another symptom of the asperger syndrome, besides all the social and emotional stuff, is physical clumsiness. i bring this up because i received a phone call from faben's school today saying she tripped in the classroom and as she fell, she put her hand through the glass breaking the entire window.

luckily she is ok, and only has a surface cut. i asked the principal if she cried when this happened (i seriously doubted she would show any emotion) and she said she was not upset at all and was only fascinated by her bleeding hand.

we have an appointment with the psychiatrist for the asperger evaluation on june 5th.