Fewer get married in Swedish Church. 65,000 identities stolen in Sweden. Generous Stockholmers. Center Youth for marijuana. Piraten Award to Claes Eriksson.
Fewer get married in Swedish Church
The number of Swedish children and youths who get baptized and confirmed in the Swedish Church continues to decrease. As does the number of couples who decide to marry in the Swedish Church, according to new statistics. The number of marriages performed in the Swedish Church fell from 36 to 35 percent between 2011 and 2012. The number of children baptized in the Swedish Church fell from 53 to 51 percent and the number of confirmed 15 year olds went from 32 to 31 percent. Rather small decreases, but the downward spiral has been going on for many years.
65,000 identities stolen in Sweden in 2012
Last year 65,000 Swedes got their identities stolen. Altogether they were robbed of 2.7 billion SEK ($400 million), according to a report on SVT Rapport. Those most vulnerable are people in the 25-40 age bracket with good credit, living in the bigger cities. The most common way to use a stolen identity, is by ordering things online. A stolen identity is the most common type of fraud, followed by false invoices and fraudulent advertisement.
Generous Stockholmers
According to Svenska Dagbladet, fresh statistics from Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency) shows that during last year almost one billion SEK ($152 million) was donated to charities through tax deducted gifts. In Stockholm municipality alone, 157,769 people have donated a total of more than 284 million SEK ($43,000,000), making inhabitants of Stockholm the hands-down most generous municipality in the country, with close to 135 SEK ($20) per person in gifts to non-profit organizations.
Center Youth for marijuana
According to Sveriges Radio, Centerpartiets ungdomsforbund CUF (the Center Party Youth) voted to support the legalization of marijuana during an assembly in Helsingborg. Their main argument in favor of legalization is that the ban on the drug does not work. "By controlled sales we can help more people and take away an important source of income for organized crime,” said Hanna Wagenius, the chair of the Center Party youth organization. The official policy of the Center Party youth organization is that cannabis should be classified in the same category as alcohol, meaning while you recognize the health risks inherent with the use of the drug, you treat it the same as alcohol. The result of the vote was unexpected since a majority had earlier been against the proposal. The Center Party voted down a proposal to legalize marijuana at its national conference in 2011.
Piraten Award to Claes Eriksson
The Piratenpriset (the Piraten Award) is annually awarded by the Fritiof Nilsson Piraten Sallskapet to Swedish artists who work in the spirit of Fritiof Nilsson Piraten (1895-1972). This year it goes to director, screenwriter, revue artist, actor, comedian, and composer Claes Eriksson, member of the popular comedy group Galenskaparna och After Shave. The motivation reads: “with insidious humor and clever seriousness, this comedian punctures all kinds of overbearingness, abuse of power, and bureaucratic silliness while also paying tribute to the courage of the lone citizen”. The first Piraten prize was awarded in 1989 to author Jacques Werup, winners since then include: Ulf Lundell (2000), Bodil Malmsten (2004), Carin Mannheimer (2010) and Leif GW Persson (2012). Today the sum of the prize money is 100 000 SEK ($15,000).
Comedian, actor and screenwriter Claes Eriksson – the recipient of this year’s Piratenpris. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
People in the municipality of Stockholm are the most generous in the country—157,769 people there have together donated over 284 million SEK ($43,000,000) to non-profit charities.
