Resident: conclusion of remote findings

I trust everyone's weekend was all they had hoped it would be, yes? I spent mine putting my belongings into cardboard boxes and garbage bags. But by noon on Sunday most everything I owned of importance was strategically packed into a borrowed forest green minivan and on its way to its new storage locale: my parents' basement. Knowing I'd be taking not even 1/10th of what I own with me to Sweden was a bit sad. As the van bounced down the highway, Pops driving, I looked over the boxes that I was reusing from previous moves. They were marked up with Sharpie: "living room," "books" or "kitchen". Past lives seemed so organized and predetermined. To say that's positive or not isn't what I'm really in the mood to discuss. I can assume that what I learned from then made me who I am today. And so I go...

Fact: The Swedish Parliament is called Riksdag and is situated in Stockholm. The house of Parliament is called Riksdagshuset. There are 349 Members of Parliament. After the 2002 election, 45 percent of Members of Parliament are women, which is a world record.

I'd have to legally reside in Sweden for three years before I'd be allowed to vote in any election. But that's not to say that I'm not interested in the politics of my new home. Right now I really don't know enough to side with any of their seven political parties.

I've been asked quite often about Sweden's current political stance and I've had a hard time giving a good answer. The term "socialist" comes up usually and then the conversation usually moves to someone asking about their seemingly utopian policies on health care and education. I quickly confirm that Utopia doesn't exist and if you'd talk to most Swedes they'd, like any other human being, have complaints and ideas for change in their government. Take this into consideration: although there are seven parties, the socialist democrat party has basically been in power for at least the past forty years. In the last election in 2002 39.8 percent of the votes were socialist democrat. That leaves 60 percent of the voters wanting a change. The next election is in September of 2006.

For those of you with sponge-like brains, here's some general info I rounded up:

+ The present Social Democratic government, led by Prime Minister Göran Persson, came to power in 1994 after losing power briefly in 1991. King Carl XVI Gustaf (Bernadotte) ascended to the throne on September 15, 1973. His authority is formal, symbolic, and representational.

+ Sweden became a member of the European Union in 1995. Some argued that it went against Sweden's historic policy of neutrality.

+ Sweden fought in its last war in 1814. They are an Armed Neutrality. The Swedish Armed Forces, or Försvarsmakten, is a Government agency responsible for the peacetime operation of the armed forces of Sweden. The primary long time task of the agency is to prepare for the defense of the country in the event of war, with the short-term task of training and deploying peace support forces abroad.

That'll draw to a close my public research. Only scratching the surface is exactly what I wanted to do with these past three posts. My goal was to put some general info up for daily readers and close friends that are interested in what is ahead for me. And, I think that gaining info on how other parts of the world operate is nothing short of necessary. We as Americans really do live in a sheltered place and are, at times, quick to comment with a narrow view of the world. It's not any of our faults; it's the reality and price that comes with living in one of the richest and most powerful countries in history. Chicago will always be my home and I'll always be an American. But it's nearly time to practice what he preached and live my life as only I can and live by words that jumped off a page and slapped me in the face and by the grace of some sort of god never stopped speaking to me...

Hold still, man, regain your love of life and go down from this mountain and simply be-be-be the infinite fertilities of the one mind of infinity...?just flow, flow, be you all, be you what it is, it is only what it always is...?So shut up, live, travel, adventure, bless and don't be sorry