Free Republic

Low-cost airline Ryanair has responded to 'anti-fun' opponents of its advertising by sending its raunchy 2009 cabin crew calendar to select Swedish politicians. Top of their mailing list is feminist Liberal Party politician Birgitta Ohlsson, who last month urged consumers to boycott the budget carrier over its “old-fashioned” response to complaints about an advert featuring a young woman in a skimpy school uniform. "We're expecting her usual 'anti-fun' response,' Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara told The Local. Entitled 'The Girls of Ryanair', the airline's new 2009 calendar features liberally oiled and scantily clad female cabin crew. "I can't see what the...

Ryanair on Friday claimed Sweden's Trade Ethical Council against Sexism in Advertising (ERK) was out of touch with the "Britney Spears generation" after the agency accused the discount airline of running a sexist ad campaign. In defending the advertisement, Ryanair questioned whether the ERK accurately reflected the views of most Swedes. “We are sure that the anti-funsters at the ERK do not speak for the majority of the famously liberal and easy going Swedes,” the company said in a statement. “The ad simply reflects the way a lot of young girls like to dress. We hope the old farts at...

HEY!!! What about "The Avenue"/"Avenyn" in Gothenburg (second largest city of Sweden) and Tylösand beach in the nearby Swedish West Coast city of Halmstad?? Like a certain Per Gessle of Roxette, - remember the hit "It must have been love (but it's over now)" feautured in Pretty Woman? - a native of Halmstad, put it: "The West Coast girls are the best thing on Earth!" The artricle: A survey by Traveler's Digest, a US travel magazine has made a list of the cities that are home to the world's most beautiful women. Stockholm came out on top. Rejecting the notion...

Women will continue to be barred from bathing topless at an indoor pool in the central Swedish town of Enköping following a decision by the town council’s recreation committee on Tuesday. Prior to the decision, committee member Stefan Brandberg cited concerns about the health of young girls in his opposition to the proposed lifting of the ban. “We believe that it can contribute to anorexia—there is a risk for that,” he said to the newspaper Expressen. Monica Hällgren, chair of the Enköping recreation committee, confirmed that one of the central arguments for leaving the ban in place was concern over...

Two Swedish women who want to be allowed go topless in the nation's swimming pools have had their case rejected by Sweden's equality watchdog. A ruling released on Friday underlined that women's bodies were different from men's: "There is a physical difference between a woman's upper body and that of a man," said Equal Opportunities Ombudsman Anne-Marie Bergström. "There is also a great difference between how people in general perceive men's and women's bodies. It is therefore hard to maintain that [the topless bathers] were in a comparable situation to men who bathed with naked upper bodies." Ragnhild Karlsson, 22,...

"Sometimes the names alone provided hints as to the prospects for a lasting relationship. Somehow gunilla_luvs_prozac didn’t seem quite ready, whereas cum2mama was if anything a little too ready. Messages from hysterical_hilda, katsb4men and imeldamarcos were similarly binned. But diligent research eventually brought its rewards as I discovered that beyond the mundane Majas lay clusters of intriguing Tinas, Linas and Sabrinas."

Introducing...the Swedish Bikini Team Published: 16th April 2007 16:03 CET Online: http://www.thelocal.se/7014/ They might be as Swedish as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but they have been flying the blue and yellow colours for more than fifteen years. This week's Introducing... gets up close and personal with the Swedish Bikini Team - Who are they and why are they famous? The Swedish Bikini Team stepped out of the sea and into the limelight in 1991. Once accurately described as 'vixens of beerdom', the swimwear Swedes quickly skedaddled off the scene and were last spotted dancing to rock music in a...

Two female students are demanding their rights after they were banned from bathing topless at a swimming pool in Uppsala. If girls are forced to wear bikinis, boys should be too, one of the women told The Local. Ragnhild Karlsson, 22, and her friend Kristin Karlsson, 21, live on the same corridor in a student residence in the university town. On September 5th they took a trip to the Fyrishov leisure complex, where they decided to hop in for a swim without their bikini tops. Though the pool was full of swimmers, a female lifeguard eventually caught sight of the...

Granholm appoints new state treasurer 4/6/2006, 12:56 p.m. ET By DAVID EGGERT The Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Thursday tapped an economist who 30 years ago helped create the state's Single Business Tax to join her cabinet as the new state treasurer. Robert Kleine, a former director of the state Office of Revenue and Tax Analysis, will replace Jay Rising, who resigned in late February to become vice president and chief financial officer for the Detroit Medical Center hospital system. The treasurer oversees the collection, investment and disbursement of state money. "It is a challenging...