Carpets & Rugs

Danes are annoyed (allegedly) because Swedish chain IKEA (which, by the way, has catapulted its director into the list of the 10 richest in the world - something which doesn't seem to be frowned upon in these latitudes any longer...), when it came to naming its brand new range of carpets and rugs, instead of the shinny Swedish and Norwegian place names it used to employ, decided to go instead for Danish place names...

(At least instead of cathedral towns they could have gone or some more household names like the one on the right which still gets me into fits of laughter, despite knowing is childish. But there's just no avoiding it,so there it is - one of these days,when I get the time I will provide you with a list of really good names from some southern European countries, where imagination sometimes tends to run quite wild)

IKEA, aka Sweden is walking over the Danes. That's the accusation.

Imperialistic undertones, surviving grudges, complexes? who knows.

However, a hint next in the news: jubilant Swedes celebrate the fact Sweden no longer has the world's highest tax burden - "Denmark has taken over as the country with the highest tax burden" (funny how stories involving Denmark are illustrated by the same photograph: of a Danish squad supporter shaking hands with his Swedish counterparts).

Now, there's something to celebrate.

Equally interesting to see how, as opposed to the UK, in Sweden foreigners can't bank on Swedish IDs. Apparently they can't get IDs even if they want it very much. Sweden, may I remind you receives if not the highest at least one of the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. Those without an ID feel embarrassed and some are even reconsidering staying in Sweden for higher education.

Immigration is an issue but not like in the UK. The UK government says it's toughening up on immigration. It wants everyone to have an ID. Licence to bank on it. Those without an ID feel free. At least some do anyway.

Next we learn some Norwegians are shocked to learn they're really Swedes, that a mother and her three children in Oslo were rescued by Swedish man, but as stereotypes go this has to be one of the funniest:

And among the stereotypes there are lessons to be learnt too. One for people like you and me. Which is to continue to distrust bovine, careerist, unfunny, cowardly, scared people and sanguinary organizations thirsty for the blood of the sanguine...

A last bit of news from Scandinavia that pleased me immensely, although it added to the distrust of some Danes in their own PM (and increased mine...) was to find out that Mr Fogh Rasmussen (who, by the way, is being rumoured as a potential candidate for the post of EU president - anyone but Blair! and perhaps the Pope) is obsessed with germs.

Apparently the Danish PM always brings a napkin to state dinners to clean his cutlery and his kids are not allowed to blow the candles on birthday cakes. Only after they've been taken out of the cake.

Thanks to him my carrying a Vicks First Defence foam spray on public transport and airplanes to disinfect my hands and using antibacterial wipes to clean my desk at work (apparently they carry 10 times as many bacteria as a regular loo - a fact no doubt aggravated by the refusal of office cleaners in touching desks for fear of being sued, one of the finest examples of institutional idiocy) looks almost normal.

But politicians are politicians and when it came to a state visit to the States, president Bush turned up at the airport all sweaty and there was no shying back.

After all it was the sweat of the most powerful man in the world.