Goodbye 2005! And welcome election and World Cup year 2006…

[Up-dated] It is time to put on a suit, go to a party, get tipsy and say farewell to 2005. Before that, here is a summary of what happened - from the perspective of a Fred Perry progressive based in Stockholm.

Most positive development in 2005: According to the yearly report from Freedom House, more than three billion people (almost half of Earth’s population) live in 89 countries where they enjoy free elections and the respect of human rights. That’s better than ever before. And let’s continue to do something for the remaining half!
Most terrible news in 2005: Earthquake in Pakistan, terrorism in (for example) London, hurricane in (for example) New Orleans, and so on. And silently, underneath the surface, some 3 000 000 people died of aids and 9 000 000 of hunger.
Remarkable individuals who left us in 2005: Rosa “she refused to sit and a whole generation stood up” Parks (1913-2005), Hunter S “Fear and Loathing” Thompson (1937-2005), Arthur “Death of a salesman” Miller (1915-2005), Zhao “Gorbachev of China” Ziyang (1919-2005), Rudolf “Swedish model” Meidner (1914-2005), Robin “Point of departure” Cook (1946-2005), George “the fifth Beatle” Best (1946-2005). And John “Leo McGarry” Spencer, of course.
Best night of 2005: Watching the Champions League Final in a bar with fellow Social Democratic students in Norrköping. AC Milan is up 3-0 in half time, the rest is history.
Best concert of 2005: Bruce Springsteen, nothing beats tickets in the middle of the seond row (thanks again, Henrik). Also: Sofia Karlsson at Mosebacke and Patty Griffin singing “Long ride home” at Debaser.
Best records of 2005: “To die alone” (Moneybrother), “Svarta ballader” (Sofia Karlsson), “Fair&Sqaure” (John Prine).
Best retro in 2005: The Bruce Springsteen “Born to run” DVD-box. And “Sjutton sånger” (LeMarc sjunger LeMarc).
Best wedding of 2005: Jeff’s and Holly’s two-day wedding in Woodstock, Virginia. Food, music, and loads of friends.
Best party of 2005: The crayfish-party we had at Victor’s parents house.
Best weekend of 2005: Andreas’ bachelor’s party in Copenhagen. That set up (hotel, dinner, nightclub, brunch, top-class football) will be very difficult to beat.
Most interesting travel of 2005: The Kurdish parts of Iraq, of course.
Nicest vacation of 2005: South Africa (Xmas and New Years 2004-2005) with mum, my sister Anna and her boyfriend Per-Erik's family.
Best meal in 2005: At my friend Fyda’s house in Iraq. Just look at the picture above!
Second best meal of 2005: Bushman's kebab at a restaurant somewhere between Cape Town and Cape Point.
Am I dreaming I am having this conversation of 2005: Discussing Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, and England’s World Cup team with Nick Hornby.
Best read in 2005: “Why Europe will run the 21st century” by Mark Leonard.
Winning elections in 2005: Campaigning in key London-constituencies with Labour Students, contributing to Blair’s historic third term.
Actually having elections in 2005: Iraq!
Wings of history in 2005: Visiting Robben Island (South Africa) with mum, and Halabja (Iraq) with Kurdish and Social Democratic Students (i.e. Shoresh with crew, and Emma and Claes).
Continuing disappointment in 2005: How the US (i.e. the Bush-administration) is mishandling “the war on terror”.
Some political events in 2005 I will remember: Gleneagles, putting focus on development and debt. The SAP-congress, of course. The ECOSY-bureau meeting in London (so well organized). And my last action as chairman of Social Democrats Students; introducing Margot Wallström to our congress in Uppsala.
Best thing that happened in 2005: Meeting my girlfriend Emma, of course.

Got to put that suit on now, thanks to y'all who visited this blog in 2005. Welcome back in 2006!

Tyvärr, dagens DN-debatt luktar inte Bartlet...

Sitter uppe sent och tittar på säsong sex av West Wing (har just sett avsnitt 17) men får ett tips via sms om morgondagens (i.e. dagens ) artikel på DN-debatt. Sedan min tid som ordförande för S-studenter känner jag till att LOs ordförande, den fantastiska Wanja Lundby-Wedin, gärna har ”vänt på” den socialdemokratiska regeringens högskolepolitiska mål om att 50 procent av en generation ska gå vidare till högskolan. Med andra ord har Wanja framhållit att i dagens föränderliga värld är det kanske viktigare att ha läst vid en högskola/universitet när man går i pension, än att bara sätta upp ett mål för 25–åringar. Jag har alltid tyckt att det finns en poäng i det resonemanget; livslångt lärande samt att försvara människor och inte samma gamla jobb är liksom en del av den moderna socialdemokratiska politiken.

Men i dagens debattartikel tycker jag att Wanja (och Metta Fjelkner) ställer olika utbildningar, i synnerhet yrkesutbildningar under gymnasietiden och högskolestudier, emot varandra på ett olyckligt sätt. Jag har själv kämpat för att regeringens politik ska bli mer visionär och gillar fokuseringen på en procent till bistånd, en procent till forskning, bort med oljeberoendet innan 2020, 50 procent av en generation till högskolan innan 25-årsdan, och så vidare. Det känns liksom lite…West Wing, på ett bra sätt. Dessa mål ska och bör naturligtvis kompletteras med andra, gärna med anknytning till globalisering och utbildning. Och att alla ska klara gymnasieskolan (artikelns sista rad) är hur viktigt som helst. Men att ställa utbildningar mot varandra, utan att riktigt diskutera hur högskolan kan vara behjälplig för att fylla behovet av kvalificerade yrkesutbildningar, utan att riktigt erkänna vikten av teoretiska högskolestudier, känns dock – tyvärr – väldigt lite Bartlet… Vad är fel med tanken om att en majoritet av en årskull – inte bara överklassen – ska läsa vidare vid högskolan?

Politisk julkrönika om Kalle och Karl-Bertil

Komplettera med Karl-Bertil Jonsson!

Det politiska Sverige förbereder sig på julfirande. Naturligtvis hoppas såväl blåa som röda att firandet kan avlöpa i lugn och ro, utan att något ”omöjligt” händer. Som på annandagen 2004.

När partiledarna öppnar sina paket på julafton är det svårt att vara riktigt säker på opinionsläget. Sex stora undersökningar har kommit på kort tid. Enligt en leder regeringen med samarbetspartier. Två visar på dött lopp och tre ger borgerligheten ett övertag. Kristdemokraterna, vänsterpartiet och miljöpartiet ligger nära spärren på fyra procent. De nya partierna är små, har snarast blivit mindre. Men är inte helt uträknade. Ett försök till sammanfattning: borgerligheten har tappat nästan hela sitt försprång, men socialdemokratin är ännu inte ikapp och förbi.

Kring landets ekonomi råder mindre osäkerhet. Den är inne ”i en stark och bred uppgång”, enligt Konjunkturinstitutets senaste rapport. BNP-tillväxten beräknas bli nästan magiska fyra procent under valåret 2006. 100 000 människor kommer att få arbete under 2006-2007. Den öppna arbetslösheten sjunker, ”en tydlig återhämtning” har inletts. Det gamla fyraprocentsmålet lär snart vara inom räckhåll.

På julafton kan vi strunta i opinioner och ekonomi. Istället väljer vi både och av en massa andra saker. Köttbullar och kalvsylta. Glögg och grogg. Kalle Anka och Karl-Bertil Jonsson. Men politik är att välja, som tidningen Libertas redaktör Torbjörn Hållö konstaterade i en ledare under året som gick. Och den 17 september nästa år är det som bekant riksdagsval. Inte julafton. Då måste du välja mellan blått och rött. 65 procent eller 80 procent. Amerikanska låga löner eller den svenska modellen. 250 miljarder i skattesänkningar eller välfärdsreformer. Reinfeldt eller Persson.

Personligen tror jag att det blir något av ett ödesval. Den svenska modellen bygger på frihandel och strukturomvandlingar. Detta har accepterats av folkdjupet eftersom ersättningarna och arbetsmarknadspolitiken utgör bryggor till nästa jobb. Varför ska dessa bryggor kapas till 65 procent i en tid när globaliseringen accelererar och osäkerheten tilltar? När världens blickar vänds mot den modell som erbjuder både tillväxt och solidaritet?

På julafton ser jag Kalle Anka och väljer till Karl-Bertil Jonsson. Kalle Anka väljer man inte. Han finns där ändå i varje familjs julfirande, vare sig man vill eller inte. Men precis som den 17 september väljer jag att komplettera Kalle Ankas kommersialism med Karl-Bertils solidaritet. Kommersialismen fungerar nämligen bättre med Karl-Bertils omtanke. Och Kalles kommersialism behövs för att finansiera hyggliga ersättningsnivåer och nya välfärdsreformer. En slags solidarisk omtanke som i Karl-Bertils värld gestaltas i form av Aqua Vera, en bok av Jean-Paul Sartre (på franska), sidenslipsar, servettringar av päronträ.

Visst kan vi nöja oss med bara Kalle Reinfeldt. Men solidariteten behövs. Politik är att välja. Den 17 september ser vi till att även fortsättningsvis välja till Karl-Bertil Jonsson.

Eric Sundström

Bloomberg and the strike in NYC

I heard Mayor Bloomberg of NYC talk about the "illegal" strike among union transport workers on (I think) CNN last night. Bloomberg has also called the workers on strike "thugs". The strike, illegal or not, seems to have public support however, at least according to this opinion poll. Decent wages are always worth a fight, and New Yorkers seem to agree. The whole issue of Republicans, Democrats, and unions in NYC is pretty complex, but I found one interesting column here.

Gubb(m)affia:Gubbsle(m):Gubb(m)ygel

Moderaterna har en hel del företrädare som smutsar ned politikens anseende just nu:
Gubb(m)affia: Ekerömoderaterna verkar vara en blanding orimliga löner, märklig interndemokrati och kandidaturer trots pedofilbrott. Läs mer här.
Gubbsle(m): Det moderata kommunalråd i Vellinge, Göran Holm, skickar julkort för skattebetalarnas pengar. Julkortet föreställer honom själv dansades med tre nakna kvinnor. Roligt? Nej. Sexism och enormt dåligt omdöme? Ja. Läs mer och se julkortet (om du orkar) här.
Gubb(m)ygel: Moderaternas starke man i Sundbyberg, Hans-Erik Malmros, avgår. Själv säger Malmros att han "inte har gjort något fel". Att efterforska källor, ringa 4 400 samtal till sexchatnummer med tjäntsemobilen, och att porrsurfa under tjänstetid (2 500 träffar på olika porrhemsidor bara under sista halvåret 2004) innebär tyvärr att man gör fel, Malmros. Och det handlar inte om vem man ringer eller vilka hemsidor man besöker privat, utan hur en ledande politiker förvaltar väljarnas förtroende och skattebetalarnas pengar i rollen som förtroendevald. Läs mer här.

(m) på Ekerö en riktig härva

Har sysselsatt mig med att reda ut vad moddisarna på Ekerö har för sig. Avhopp, "Skandialöner", gubbvälde, samt en man dömd för pedofilbrott som kandiderar i provvalet. Läs mer här, och titta in här för att läsa en imponerande blogg om kommunpolitiken på Ekerö.

"I wanna kiss the groom!"

It's a big day in England and Wales: Elton John and David Furnish and a lot of other couples were "married" today as the first same-sex civil partnership ceremonies took place (read more about it here). To all Fred Perry-progressives (i.e. center-left political junkies who also like good music and nice clothes) it is way too obvious that all people should be treated in the same way and have the same rights (and obligations) in society. And that is, of course, regardless of who you want to share your life (or just a night) with. The same-sex civil partnership is a big and important, but not the final, step.

Here and now I would just like to thank Elton John, whose music I very seldom listen to, for lending his stardom to this very important issue. Homophobia is still out there, but since he “married” his David on the very first day possible, many more newspapers (and blogs) will write about it. And I would also like to think that quite a few people who have been skeptical vis-à-vis same-sex civil partnership will think it over again, since the very-likeable-candle-in-wind-Elton-John was first in line.

So to Elton, David and all you others, congratulations, and let’s continue to fight for an equal society free from homophobia. In England, Wales, Sweden and elsewhere.

(Picture of one of the Elton John records I have heard and liked, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I think the music of Elton John is a little bit like the music of Billy Joel - the earlier the better).

Dagens Expressen, del III

När jag vaknade imorse trodde jag inte att jag skulle blogga tre gånger om Expressen på en dag men here goes: den alltid trevliga Cecilia Garme har skrivit en artikel om en moderat, Malmros, som nu är polisanmäld av Sundbybergs kommun (sexchat, datorer, vägrar avgå, fortfarande toppnamn på m-listan, etc - läs Garmes artikel här).

Mer om dagens Expressen/Otto Sjöberg

För alla som tycker att Expressen länge har befunnit sig på ett sluttande plan rekommenderas en artikel på den kultursida som ännu håller hög kvalitet. Två av Sveriges främsta författare och "intellektuella", PO Enquist och Anders Ehnmark, begär att chefredaktör Otto Sjöberg ska avgå. Hetsjakten på Persbrandt blev droppen. Läs mer här.

Dahl och portvin bra förutsägbart

I dag publicerar tidningen Expressen en debattartikel där en Svend Dahl skriver om ”modiga moderater”. Hela artikeln är en hyllning till Reinfeldt och moderaternas chefsekonom Anders Borg. Samtidigt är Dahls text ett svar till Timbros Mattias Svensson som tidigare på samma debattsida efterlyst ”mer av ideologiskt radikala åsikter hos moderaterna”. Dahls avslutar istället sin artikel på följande vis:

”Den borgerliga alliansen och Fredrik Reinfeldts och Anders Borgs förändring av moderaterna är den bästa chansen på mycket länga att […] erbjuda väljarna ett seriöst alternativ till socialdemokraterna”.

Detta är naturligtvis en helt legitim åsikt, även om jag inte håller med om att högerpakten har förändrats. 250 miljarder i skattesänkningar på åtta år skulle innebära ett rejält systemskifte; det innebär att var femte polis, var femte lärare, var femte sjuksköterska, och så vidare, ska bort. Precis den politik som Mattias Svensson efterlyser.

Det intressanta är istället att Svend Dahl vill släta över Mattias Svenssons radikala artikel och ge sken av att Reinfeldt är en trevlig mittenpolitiker. Han undertecknar sedan artikeln som ”doktorand i statsvetenskap vid Stockholms universitet”. Bara för att ingen ska bli förvirrad: Svend Dahl sitter i sitt doktorandrum och tokhoppas på en borgerlig valseger och 250 miljarder i skattesänkningar. Om du googlar hans namn inser du snabbt att Dahl har jobbat/har anknytning till följande organisationer/institutioner: Timbro, Smedjan, Svenska Dagbladet och Skattebetalarna. The usual suspects, alltså.

Vidare har Svend Dahl varit redaktör för Fria Moderata Studentförbundets tidskrift Svensk Linje, och vad jag förstår sitter han återigen i redaktionen nu. Kanske kan han lobba för att debattartikeln i Expressen även publiceras i Svensk Linje? Kolla förresten in redaktionsgänget för Svensk Linje, mångfald och jämställdhet så det bara sjunger om det… (Tre personer med förnamnet C/Karl och en kvinna).

Dahl har alltså fler portföljer än att bara vara doktorand. Fast eftersom hans presentation i Expressen också avslöjar att han ska dricka portvin hela julhelgen så var hela den här historien ganska given. Skål och God Jul!

Thanks, Leo/John

BBC News reports that John Spencer, more known as Leo McGarry in the NBC TV-series The West Wing, died of a heart attack last Friday. I have been watching a lot of episodes of The West Wing on DVD lately (season five), and during the terrible years with Bush, The West Wing has been a dream world for political junkies to the left of center (and thus Fred Perry progressives...). A little haven until we have Democrats in the White House again after the elections in 2008.

Heart attacks and alcoholism were two unfortunate similarities between John Spencer the actor, and Leo McGarry the Bartlet chief of staff. Apparently Spencer was only 58, and his birthday is tomorrow (December 20th). As my plan is to watch season six during Christmas, I will see a lot of Leo McGarry. But since I know it is healthy to keep the distance between a TV-show, an actor you have never met, and real life, I will try not to get too sentimental here... I will just say: Thanks Leo/John, and I know it’s only a TV-show, but I like it, like it, yes I do.

Reinfeldt och sanningen

Under borgarnas miniturné i Skåne i onsdags (läs mer här) fick jag inte åka med i journalistbussen, trots att jag jobbar som journalist, har presslegitimation och trots att bussen inte var full. (Jag erkänner dock gärna att jag har en väldigt tydlig partibok).

Men som den grävande journalist jag nu är jagade jag ikapp bussen med tåg samt (tyvärr) taxi i ett blåsigt Skåne. Till slut gav det utdelning. Reinfeldt inte bara slant med tungan. Han ljög, faktiskt. Läs mer här.

Hey, SCB says it’s going a-ok!

Since I know quite a few people follow this blog in order to get unbiased (just kidding) information about Swedish politics in English, I must tell y'all about the very important and much regarded opinion poll that was released today.

Once every six months, SCB (“Statistic Sweden” in English) publishes an opinion poll based on some 10 000 interviews. (For all you non-Swedes out there: SCB is the official state authority gathering all kind of statistics relevant for the governing of Sweden. Their staff amounts to 1 400 and last year they sent out no more than 365 press releases. Let’s put it this way: they are serious about statistics).

Today at 9:30 AM, which I think is half an hour earlier than normal, the new numbers were released. This time, 9 242 individuals were interviewed during the first three weeks of November, three out of four responded and the results were as following (result compared to the last big opinion poll they did in June 2005 in brackets):

Social democrats: 37,1 percent (+2,4)
Left party: 5,7 percent (-1,3)
Green party: 4,1 percent (-0,3)
Left block: 45,6-48,2 percent.

Conservatives: 25,9 percent (-1,9)
Christian democrats: 4,8 (+0,4)
Center/Farmers party: 5,9 (-0,6)
Liberal party: 11,1 (-0,7)
Right block: 46,4-48,8 percent.

Others: 5,5 percent (notably the populist “June list”; the new Feminist party has almost disappeared).

Three basic reflections:
1. We/the Social democrats are increasing strongly; half a year ago some opinion polls indicated that the left block was ten percentage points behind the right block. Now we are on the move, it is basically a dead heat between the blocks, and I actually prefer (at this stage) to be behind a little bit. In that way, everybody understands that we must take the right seriously this time.

2. The opinion poll was made before the report about how the government handled the tsunami was presented (1st of December). The debate since then has been quite nasty, and it is difficult to know how the voters have reacted. One less regarded opinion poll suggested that the Social democrats/we have gained four percentage points since the report criticizing the government’s handling of the tsunami was presented. That sounds a little bit unlikely, but since the opposition has been infighting a lot, trying to make party politics out of a catastrophe (!!!), it remains yet to be seen how that debate has influenced the political landscape. But we will have to wait until June 2006 until we get another SCB-opinion poll based on 10 000 (and not 1 000) interviews.

3. The election 2006 will be close and interesting. One party of each block, the Greens and the Christian democrats respectively, are just above the four percent threshold you must pass to get into the Riksdag. The “June list” is getting closer, but I don’t think they will make it, given all the infighting and the lack of democracy in the party. These small parties can however alter the whole election.

Conclusion? We can beat the right again, just as always. But we need to focus on reform, jobs and sustainable growth, and the issues where they are weak (females, fags, foreign aid, foreigners and flowers). And then? Mobilize together with our magnificent trade unions and tell the voters that it’s a choice between growth and reform, or tax cuts in the magnitude of 250 billion Swedish kronas within eight years. Yeah, I'm simplifying a lot right now but as I write it down, it feels pretty obvious and simple that we can and should beat the right. Again. And as always.

On the campaign trail/m borgarna i Skåne

Kom precis till redaktionen efter att ha följt borgerlighetens partiledare i Skåne en dag, och sedan åkt nattåget hem. Min första reflektion är att hela idén med "alliansen" känns ganska devalverad just nu, läs mer här.

Mauds skattesänkning: 250 miljarder

Maud Olofsson talar ut för Skattebetalarnas tidning och blir välfärdsstatens fiende: hon vill sänka skatten med 250 miljarder inom åtta år! Läs mer här. Domani onsdag åker jag till Skåne och följer borgarnas förminskade sydturné, mer rapporter kommer.

John Glen and Sean Penn...

Through Natalie and Jonas, I read about a face recognition demo that proved to be hilarious. The idea is simple, hand in a photo and you will "know" what celebrity you look like (yeah, right). Jonas had an awful start, but then found out he looks a lot like Paul Auster, who is both good-looking and a fantastic author. Nathalie also had a bad start, but then found out she looks just like Jennifer Connelly. Naturally, after that I wanted to find out as well.

When I celebrated Thanksgiving outside Cleveland, Ohio in 2001 there was some really close family of the astronaut John Glen at that party. I thought it was pretty cool, but little did I know I resemble John Glen to some 67 percent. I was really disappointed to have such an old guy as number one on my face recognition demo list, but given that he is a really old astronaut, he looks ok. I hope that is a good sign for the future.









The rest of my list was more encouraging: Dennis Quaid was the second “celebrity” who came up. We look 61 percent alike. (Yes, Quaid is one of those actors you have seen a lot of but whose name you always forget. I looked him up in the IMDB and he has been in some 55 films). Number three and four puts me in the Paul Auster division: Gene Kelly (60 percent, looks a lot like my dad as well) and then… Robert Redford (58 percent). So now I am happy and can leave the office in good spirit.








Only thing that bugs me is why Sean Penn is not in the celebrity database. If he were, John Glen would not have come up first, of course...

So we shout, what about Europe United?!!

This autumn, the Party of European Socialists (www.pes.org), with its fantastic party leader Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (picture), has encouraged social democrats around Europe to become “PES-activists”. This is just starting up, but the idea is that local members of the social democratic parties will get to know more about PES-policy and actions. But the PES-activists will also be given possibilities to keep in touch across borders through internet, arrange bilateral exchanges between countries, and meet for a yearly, bigger gathering.

In Stockholm, we are quite a large group of people who found this call very inspiring. On the 28th of November we formed “PES Stockholm (Section One)”, and we believe we are among the first in Europe doing this. Since I am very interested in anything that has do with Habermas and the building of a common, European public sphere, I am honored to be one of the organizers.

Until the PES-gatherings and bilateral exchanges are happening, PES Stockholm has decided to have fun and interesting meetings, those kind of meetings you would like to go to yourself, you know. On Thursday the 15th of December we are having our first meeting, and just to get new members but also in order to inspire others across Sweden and Europe, I am publishing our agenda for the evening below:

5:50 PM: We all gather at the party HQ, Sveavägen 68 in central Stockholm (the new conference center on the ground floor).
6:00 PM: Ann Linde, international secretary of Sweden’s social democratic party, will tell us a little bit about how the PES works.
6:15 PM: We will watch the acclaimed French movie “La haine” (“Hate” in English, “Medan vi faller” in Swedish), about integration and violence in a French suburb. Mathieu Kassovitz directed this film in 1995, ten years before the problems described in the movie became riots all over France.
7:45 PM: The movie is over, we will take a short break, a glass of wine and/or coffee.
8:00 PM: Sam Yildirim, who works with integration at the county administrative board in Stockholm, will comment the movie and give a short talk. Tara Twana, member of Social Democratic Women in Stockholm, will moderate and lead the following discussion.

Sounds like a fun and interesting evening if you like European politics and culture, don’t you think!? So, if you want to become a member, please e-mail karin_boman_roding@yahoo.se (you do not have to live in Stockholm in order to become a member, even if we will have most of out meetings here). If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me. And if you are a social democrat living in the Stockholm region, hope to see ya Thursday evening!

Moddisarna och arbetslösheten

Har du också hört en borgare säga att det finns minst en miljon arbetslösa i Sverige? Om du undrar hur de räknar kan du läsa mer här.

BBC and Sweden - again!

Thanks to Jon's blog I learnt that BBC News Online has yet another story comparing British and Swedish health care. The article (and pop-up window) is a must read for everyone with an interest in politics and public policy. Jon describes the article in the following way:

"Continuing their series about Sweden, BBC News Online has published a new article about Swedish public health. Read it here. This article is more detailed than the other ones they have posted on the website. It looks in depth about how the decentralised nature of Swedish healthcare might be better than the centralised NHS. There is also a pop-up window with some excellent stats about the health of the British and Swedish populations.

However, there is one thing the Brits are still very good at: public sector broadcasting. I would really struggle to find any other country with anything quite like the BBC..."

Personally, I couldn't agree more; our decentralized system is good, and so is the BBC. But there are some remaining questions: Why is the political right in Sweden always so negative when they talk about our public health system? Why do we have to turn to the BBC in order to get a decent discussion going (also about how things can be improved)? And how will tax cuts in the magnitude of 250 billion Swedish kronor make our helath care system better?

Since I guess we will have to wait for the answer to those questions, in the meantime I recommend y'all to visit Jon's blog and the BBC and Guardian websites more often. That is so much more fun and useful, compared to listening to the negative tunes coming from Swedish right-wingers; especially when respected, international press publish stories like this.

Elect two women on January 15th!

So, the bad news is that Michelle Bachelet was not elected president of Chile in yesterday’s first round (she would have needed more than 50 percent, but got “only” 45,9 percent). The good news is that Bachelet has a very good chance winning against Sebastian Pinera in the second round on January 15th. Funny enough, on January 15th Finland’s Tarja Halonen might do what Bachelet almost did yesterday; get more than 50 percent in the first round as the female, center-left candidate in a presidential election.

The polls are giving Halonen around 58 percent right now, a fantastic figure giving the fact that there are eight candidates in the race. There is another televised debate in Finland on Wednesday, and if Halonen does well and if all my Finnish social democratic friends work hard – we might get the Chilean-Finnish double on January 15th.

As always, The Economist has a lot of good articles about the elections in Chile, here is one, and do not forget to also click the fantastic “Get article background” button. BBC News also has an informative article, and one somewhat simplistic but fantastic sentence explains why I support both Bachelet and the party supporting Tarja Halonen.

"[S]he [Michelle Bachelet] is expected to follow many of the successful policies of President Ricardo Lagos - free-market economics mixed with leftist social programmes."

January 15th. Two strong women of the center-left will become (Michelle Bachelet) and be re-elected (Tarja Halonen) Presidents, respectively. Remember where you read it first.

Night between Friday and Saturday

I really should be sleeping now since it has been a very busy week, I am very tired and I promised myself to get to bed early tonight. It all started good, I watched four episodes of West Wing (1-4, season five, and I just bought season six so my ambition is to be done with season five by Christmas). And I was about to go to sleep but two things are preventing me:

a) I am very very seldom disturbed by my neighbors in the apartment building where I live in Stockholm, but tonight one apartment is really loud. I did some research in the hallway, and it turns out it is my favorite neighbor, a guy a some five years younger than me, who is having some friends over for drinks and a lot of serious jumping around. Since I have had quite a few late parties in my apartment, I decided just to stick with it and stay up for a while.

b) I am receiving text messages all the time from international friends (mostly Brits who also are members of the Labour party) about the World Cup draw that was presented tonight.

So, Sweden will play in group B in Germany against England, Paraguay and Trinidad/Tobago. I think it looks quite ok and the newspapers are even talking about a “dream ticket”. Maybe they are right.

Trinidad/Tobago will most likely lose all three games. In theory Sweden will get at least a draw against England, and then it is all up to the game against Paraguay. I don’t know too much about Paraguay except for the stability of their defense, but since Sweden actually has a lot of creative players these days, I am not that worried (Zlatan, Ljungberg, Larsson).

England will be the same old story; if they get it together, it might be 1966 again, but there are quite a few question marks. (Just like the Italian left in a way, it just struck me; always good on paper). Do they have a top-class goalie? How do you solve midfield with both Gerrard and Lampard? Can Owen and Rooney find a golden formula together, or do you need to complement one of them with a true target player? Or can Rooney fit in that role?

As I am writing this, one of my best English friends is telling me through sms that England will be ok as long as they don’t play with any Kopites (i.e. players from Liverpool FC)... This joke is presented to me by my good friend Karim who grew up in Liverpool, but who is an Everton-fan... And I think my friend Karim and I would agree that Carragher and Gerrard must be in the England-starting eleven!?

So, it was a good day for Swedish football. Group C will be the toughest (Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia/Montenegro and the Netherlands); we are not in the "group of death" this time. England will make it from our group if they decide they really want to. But both England and Paraguay have strong teams, which is good for Sweden since we play better when the other team is decent. And Trinidad/Tobago we should beat easily (but since I have an old dear friend from T/T, I am still glad they qualified). So I am quite pleased tonight, in spite of the noise in my apartment building, and in spite of the fact that my neighbor now is singing and playing guitar...

And if Sweden mess up totally in the World Cup in Germany, there is still another eleven World Cups to go if I reach the average age of a Swedish male. As Liverpool FC manager Bill Shankly said:

"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that."

Now the noise has stopped (almost), so it is time to say goodnight. Sweet dreams about World Cup-medals!

Kvartetten som sprängdes

Det händer mycket i inrikespolitiken just nu, och det skriver jag mest om på aip.nu. En kommenterande analys om Mauds förvirrade homecoming till svensk politik kan du läsa här, hur Ekot felciterar Göran Persson kan du läsa här, och en läsvärd krönika av Lars Stjernkvist kan du läsa här.

Intressant läsning på DN-debatt

I dag fredag tycker jag att ni ska läsa den välskrivna och tänkvärda artikeln på DN-debatt (OK, jag erkänner direkt, jag har varit med och undertecknat och diskuterat fram texten...). Vi som står bakom artikeln tillhör ett nätverk som heter "Vänster för Europa", du kan läsa mer om oss här (hemsidan är gammal, snart kommer en ny, men det finns information om hur du går med, och har du frågor är det bara att mejla). Läs inte bara rubriken, utan ta en kopp kaffe och tänk igenom vad vänstern borde vilja med Europa. Jag tycker, needless to say, att vi stakar ut en intressant väg, och låt diskussionen fortsätta.

Från Gröna khmerer till Timro

Min artikel i SSUs tidning Frihet om Centerns och CUFs högersväng ligger nu äntlingen uppe på nätet, läs den här. Artikeln har bland annat kommenterats i ett ledarstick i SvD (jag har bloggat om detta tidigare) men också inspirerat en ledarkommentar av den alltid utmärkte Olov Abrahamsson i NSD. Trevlig läsning (och glöm inte att kolla in SSUs nya hemsida, bland annat omröstningen om huruvida det kommer att bli fred i Mellanöstern... vilken pessimism!).

PMQs with Blair vs Cameron

In Swedish media, you can now read that Blair wore a red tie, and David Cameron a blue one, when they first met for the Prime Minister's questions ("PMQs") today. On the BBC News website you can now watch the PMQs, and thus see the ties, and more importantly listen to a very entertaining debate. I am still listening and watching as I write this, but Cameron's start was indeed strange (talking about his first agreement with Blair), after that Cameron was quite OK, Blair is very good right now, and the debate and roars in general are as typical as always.

It’s Cameron: a compassionate Conservative?

As expected, David Cameron became the new leader of the British Conservative party (“Tories”). The MP of Witney, 39 years old and an MP only since 2001, won a decisive victory over David Davis (the members of the Tory party had an internal vote, and Cameron got 134 446 votes or 67%, and Davis got 64 398 votes or 32%).

I have written about Cameron earlier, and I think those words are worth repeating:

"The members voting for a new Tory leader would ideally want a David with Cameron’s public relations skills, and Davis’ experience and policy. When having to choose, they will go for the guy who looks good on TV. Is that necessarily bad for Labour, who might soon be challenged by a young, hungry opposition leader?

I would say no, the future of the Labour party will be decided by decisions within the party (and government). The Tories are still too irrelevant to do any harm, so Labour’s worst enemy would be a leader that does not understand to govern with his new, smaller majority, or a party that does not understand that it has a leader of incredible potential. Keep on going Blair, focus on reform instead of the Davids, but make sure to govern together with your MPs and your party."

But one further point that must be discussed is Cameron’s actual policy, also in relation to Gordon Brown (who most probably will lead the Labour party in the next general election). Today I read a very interesting analysis in The Guardian by Jonathan Freedland (who is a true republican, always questioning why Britain should be a monarcy). Freedland’s main arguments are the following (whole article here):

“The honeymoon's over - or at least it should be […] a "compassionate conservative", as Cameron styles himself, is not a new creation. We have seen one before - and his name was George Bush.

He too knew how to talk nice -"No child left behind" he promised in 2000, usually surrounded by plenty of telegenic black and female faces - but once he had installed himself in power, he was as ruthless a rightwinger as any Republican in history. […]

Europe hardly featured in the leadership contest, but one of Cameron's few specific promises was to pull his MEPs out of the European People's Party grouping in the European parliament - leaving them instead to rub along with a few ragtag nationalists and hardliners on the fringes.

But it is domestically where Cameron comes into clearest focus. […] In four years in the Commons he has voted against every extra investment in schools, hospitals and the police. […] Again and again, Cameron may talk left, but he remains a man of the right. […]

Labour will have to decide how to deal with this, and soon. The next hundred days will be crucial; it is now that the public perception of Cameron will be formed. […] Brown signalled it yesterday: it is that Cameron is a rightwing wolf in compassionate sheep's clothing. He is the same old Tory, just rebranded and with a full head of hair.

Will it work? That much is a test for the whole electorate. We will have to weigh Brown's record against Cameron's panache - and choose. What really matters most in politics, style or substance? We are about to find out.”

We might be entering a new phase in Brirish politics. If Labour will continue to really put politics and reforms first, Brown’s record will for sure beat Cameron’s panache. Needless to say, that's what I'm hoping for.

Webranking and Italian transperancy

One of my best friends (Joakim) is very busy today as the yearly Webranking 2005 - Italy Top 80 is published in Corriere della Sera and the Financial Times (he has been working a lot with this for a few years now). The idea is simple but important:

Now in its ninth consecutive year, the Webranking Survey – conducted by Hallvarsson & Halvarsson in cooperation with Italy’s Corriere della Sera and the Financial Times – is the most comprehensive survey of corporate online communications in Europe. The survey focuses on 82 of the largest listed Italian companies, using a checklist of 131 criteria to evaluate their English-language web presence. The list incorporates feedback from a questionnaire that asks 400 European financial analysts, investors and journalists to describe how they access corporate information online.

Joakim and I both started studying economic history at Stockholm University in 1993, and we ended up pursuing our Master degrees at the Johns Hopkins University Bologna Center. Back then I would never have guessed he would end up comparing Italian transparency (among many other things), running a consultancy business in Milan. It was somewhat more predictable that I would end up working at the Social Democratic party’s HQ in Stockholm…

Anyway, you can read more about the Webranking survey Joakim has been working on here, and you can read my latest column here. That's the way life ends up, and as it is cold and rainy in Stockholm today, I do agree that I miss living and studying in Italy.

Byggands och Vaxholm

Zarembas artiklar i DN fick mycket uppmärksamhet, men i det tysta har många skarpa repliker skrivits. Här hittar du en sammanställning som inkluderar många men inte alla av dessa.

Road trip reflections

Since I went on a road trip to Western Sweden for the weekend (Bohuslän and Gothenburg) I will just share some quick reflections.
1. To get a car for the weekend and drive out of town with your best friends is simply a great idea. We often did this when I lived in the US but for some reason I have not done it for ages. Anyway, it was not that expensive, and it gives you energy in a totally different way - do it!
2. The Ramones is a great band, for some reason I don’t listen to them that often these days. To listen to “She’s a sensation” and stop for dinner in the town of Arboga was actually a-ok!
3. Peter LeMarc’s new album, with quiet re-recordings of old songs, is a great. To drive through his hometown Trolhättan listening to the song “Drivved” does not beat “My hometown” in Freehold, New Jersey, of course. But it was at least somewhat close.
4. The region of Bohuslän might be the most beautiful in Sweden and the house my friend Torbjörn’s family has is wonderful. Even though it is cold and windy now, the archipelago there has a charm Stockholm cannot match.
5. A good party with old friends in Gothenburg is always worth traveling for. And we did not go to bed early, thanks GSHF for playing music and serving beer till… very late. American brunch at Hotel Liseberg Heden put us back in order, and to drive back to Stockholm just chatting about life is the best way to pass time on a quiet and dark Sunday. Just remembered: One good way to kill time on a quiet and dark Sunday. To lay down in your sofa and watch a tape of Liverpool beating Wigan 3-0, including Peter Crouch scoring for us for the first time, was also very relaxing.
(Please note that the social democratic students in Gotherburg – GSHF – now have their own blog!).

Lite inrikespolitik och trevlig helg!

Vad gäller gårdagens tsunamirapport har jag skrivit en inrikespolitisk reflektion här, och Lars Stjernkvists alltid eftertänksamma klokskap hittar du här.
Moderaten som ringde 647 samtal till en sexchatt är nu polisanmäld och jagar journalisternas källor, en artikel kommer snart på aip.nu. Nu ska jag snart till Bohuslän och Göteborg, trevlig helg!