Man gets sick benefits for heavy metal addictionA Swedish heavy metal fan has had his musical preferences officially classified as a disability. The results of a psychological analysis enable the metal lover to supplement his income with state benefits.
Because heavy metal dominates so many aspects of his life, the Employment Service has agreed to pay part of Tullgren's salary. His new boss meanwhile has given him a special dispensation to play loud music at work.
"I have been trying for ten years to get this classified as a handicap," Tullgren told The Local.
"I spoke to three psychologists and they finally agreed that I needed this to avoid being discriminated against." [...]
But his sessions with the occupational psychologists led to a solution of sorts: Tullgren signed a piece of paper on which his heavy metal lifestyle was classified as a disability, an assessment that entitles him to a wage supplement from the job centre.
"I signed a form saying: 'Roger feels compelled to show his heavy metal style. This puts him in a difficult situation on the labour market. Therefore he needs extra financial help'. So now I can turn up at a job interview dressed in my normal clothes and just hand the interviewers this piece of paper," he said.
'Adult baby' Stanley Thornton Jr. will still receive Social Security checks following probe
Social Security will keep spoon-feeding disability checks to a California man who wears a giant diaper and lives as an "adult baby."
Stanley Thornton Jr. says that the federal agency has cleared him of wrongdoing after a probe into his disability claims began after his bizarre appearance on National Geographic television earlier this year.
Thorton wrote on his website that he receives disability because he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit disorder, depression, bipolar disorder and other ailments - not because he chooses to live as an adult baby.
Where's my handout?
Government assistance for heavy metal is strange, but Sweden is different than the US. They give out assistance freely, and have favorable repayment conditions. Buying a house or even paying rent, for instance, can be heavily subsidized nearly automatically. It's part of how they deal with their cost of living. On the other hand, two years ago in Stockholm it got so cold (-30ºC) that the heating bill for a home was 1000USD per month.
As someone who lives in a city with routine winter stretches below -30 (ambient, not wind chill), I question that heating cost figure. The hydro/oil/etc prices in Stockholm would have to be more than five times those of Canada for that story to be true.
Price of electricity is very very low in Canada and OP's house might not be as well insulated as yours. So OP's claim is plausible.
> OP's house might not be as well insulated as yours.
One would think that living in a climate where temperature drops down the zone where Celcius and Fahrenheit are all like, "hey pal, nice to see you here" would encourage one to fucking insulate their house.
Stanley Thornton Jr. needs to get into heavy metal.