And Now a Word from Sweden...

From “The Local, Swedens News in English:”

Robot attacked Swedish factory worker: A Swedish company has been fined $3,000 after a malfunctioning robot attacked and almost killed one of its workers at a factory north of Stockholm. The incident took place in June 2007 at a factory in Bålsta, when the industrial worker was trying to carry out maintenance on a defective machine generally used to lift heavy rocks. Thinking he had cut off the power supply, the man approached the robot with no sense of trepidation. But the robot suddenly came to life and grabbed a tight hold of the victim's head. The man succeeded in defending himself but not before suffering serious injuries.

In other Swedish news:

Lesbian couples cause run on Swedish sperm banks: A shortage of healthy sperm and a spike in demand from lesbian couples has caused a backlog of artificial insemination applications at Swedish fertility clinics. While legislation granting lesbian couples the right to the treatment has increased the demand, Sweden's requirement for non-anonymous has reduced the supply of donor sperm.

As of July 1st, 2005, female same-sex couples in Sweden were granted the right to fertility treatment. “We had estimated an increase of around 25 couples per year after the law change. Now there are 90 couples in line,” Inger Bryman, head of gynecology and reproductive medicine at Sahlgrenska,” told GP.

Lesbians More likely to Marry: More female than male same-sex couples have chosen to marry since Swedish homosexuals were granted the legal right to marry on May 1st, 2009. Thirty-seven female couples have tied the knot since May, compared to 11 male couples, according to figures from Statistics Sweden (SCB).

Girls who Like Girls: More teenage girls than boys have had sex with someone of the same gender, according to a new dissertation from the Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg.
Altogether 440 girls and boys aged 17 were questioned for the study. It was 6.1 percent of the girls who answered that they had had sex with someone of the same gender, while 1.7 percent of boys said the same thing.