Rankings: Education and Economies

A Study.

#FreedomCheese

A response to Russia's ban on the importation of Lithuanian dairy products.

Dairy State

Russia stops importation of Lithuanian dairy products.

During the first Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940, the USSR started exporting most of Lithuania's dairy products to Russia. The Soviet Union sent grocery trucks—marked "Food for a Starving Lithuania" and hauling only watermelons—as an exchange for the dairy products.

"Migrant Workers: Cheap Labour Value Pack"

A cartoonist at The Independent addressed the availability of cheap, migrant labor in England by modifying the Tesco grocery store's slogan, "Every little helps," to read "Every Lithuanian helps."

Here is the Lithuanian ambassador's response.

 

(For more on the perception of Lithuanians in Great Britain, click on the "migrant workers" label below, or see here and here.)

UPDATE: "[T]he deputy editor of The Independent has expressed that the cartoon was absolutely not criticism of Lithuania, of Lithuanians or of economic migrants."

Progressive?

Lithuania is one of the 10 best countries in which to work.

Judo Lady?

"Get ready to hear more about the Judo-loving president of Lithuania dubbed the 'Iron Lady' for her harsh austerity measures used to yank the Baltic state out of economic disaster without any outside help."

A Repatriation Trend

Migrants are returning home to Lithuania.

(I wrote about the emigration problem here.)

An Emigration Problem

Since attaining independence in 1991, Lithuania has struggled with an emigration problem. The issue partly stems from economic pressures.

Recall also the problems faced by migrant workers in Sweden.

The Guardian recently featured a piece about Lithuanians living in Great Britain. The article highlights some points for its British readers:

From beer to babies: a guide to Lithuanians in Britain

Do not confuse Lithuanians with Poles Many hate that. Not least because the Poles have fought a number of wars with Lithuania, most recently seizing Vilnius in 1919.

They are not Slavs, but Balts The Lithuanian language is nothing like Polish. The former has 32 letters, including cool ones like ą (that squiggle is an ogonek) and ų (that's a macron).

Do not confuse the Lithuanians with Russians either and assume they all like vodka (they prefer beer). The Soviets occupied Lithuania until 1990 and the wounds have yet to heal.

British life has started to influence Lithuanian culture A few years ago a song called Londone Lietus – London Rain – was a hit for Pikaso. It told the story of a lonely man watching rain run off the roof of his London flat as he dreamed about his beloved back home.

Don't believe the bad press Lithuanians are not especially prone to criminality compared to other nationalities. Statistics from the Lithuanian embassy in London show that between January and October last year, 181 Lithuanians were arrested and prosecuted for a crime in the UK. The year before, the number was 277.

Lithuanians are not yet contributing much to the UK's rising birth rate Embassy statistics show 516 Lithuanian babies were born last year up until October. In 2010, there were 509; in 2011, 434.

UPDATE: More British perception.

"Social Racism" ...

... in Sweden.

Monkey Business

Many of you have seen this clip. I'm posting it here because I laugh every time I watch it: