Archive for October, 2007

Lufthansa looks at Swedish blondes

Marketing, Swedish Life: October 31st, 2007 by PO

Digital Media Wire looks at Lufthansa’s viral marketing campaign to promote three of its destinations.

The videos are meant to visualize silly stereotypes and all end with the compelling tagline, “you’ll never know if you don’t go.”

Here’s the Swedish offering:

Swedes radiate happiness at nuclear plants

Society, Swedish Life, Tourism: October 30th, 2007 by PO

Many Swedes’ idea of a fun day out will include a trip to the local nuclear power plant, Reuters reports.

Of Sweden’s population of around nine million, almost three million have been to a Swedish nuclear plant — some on school trips, others as passing tourists — since they were first able to visit 35 years ago, said Torsten Bohl, communications director at state firm Vattenfall, Forsmark’s majority owner.

“They see it’s a large industrial complex, but nothing else — and the people who work there are ordinary, not greenish,” said Bohl.

Prominent Dane on free speech in Sweden

Society, Swedish Life: October 30th, 2007 by PO

Flemming Rose is most famous as culture editor of Danish daily Jyllands-Posten and the man responsible for the controversial publication of a series of caricatures of the Muslim prophet Muhammad.

Rose is alarmed by the results of a recent Swedish study:

Every fourth citizen of Sweden supports a legal ban on offending religious symbols.

Writing on his Northern Light blog, Rose gives his thoughts on Sweden’s recent cartoon crisis

Interview with Lars Vilks

Miscellaneous, Society: October 17th, 2007 by PO

Artist Lars Vilks talks to CNN about life after the publication of a caricature of the Muslim prophet Muhammad.

As he sits at his computer, his phone buzzes with a text message. Another death threat has just come in, this one from Pakistan.

“I will kill you, you son a bitch,” he reads.

There are hundreds of threats just like this one on his mobile phone, on his answering machine and in his e-mail inbox.

“You get used to it,” he says. “It’s a bit of hide and seek. It’s like living in a film.”

Privatizing wine and spirits

Society: October 17th, 2007 by PO

The BBC embarked on a voyage of discovery in Sweden to look at the proposed privatization of drinks maker Vin & Sprit. The journey to the bottom of the glass took one intrepid reporter to the very heart of Vodkaville.

If you want to find out more about the finer points of vodka in Sweden, there is only one place to start.

So I donned my silver, fur-lined cape and insulated gloves, and sat down on a convenient chunk of glacier for a chat with Anders Johansson, hotel industry entrepreneur and boss of the City’s famous Absolut-themed Icebar.

EU blasts Sweden for legal shortcomings

Politics: October 17th, 2007 by PO

Forbes reports that Sweden is about to receive an angry missive from Brussels:

The commission will send letters of ‘reasoned opinion’ to the Czech Republic, Italy and Sweden for failure to transpose into national law EU rules on disclosure requirements for limited liability companies by the indicated deadline of 31 December 2006.

Hilton dumps ‘boring’ Swedish model

Society: October 17th, 2007 by PO

Paris Hilton’s dalliance with Swedish model and pizza delivery boy Alexander Väggö has ground to a halt.

A source said that the 26-year-old liked his looks, but he was too boring for her.

“She loved his good looks, but she gets bored very quickly, and he was just too shy and quiet for her. She likes bad boys,’ the Sun quoted the source, as saying.

The Daily India has the devastating news.

Dapper singer spreads his charms

Music: October 16th, 2007 by PO

Gothenburg singer-songwriter Jens Lekman has just released his second album, Night falls over Kortedala.

Swede Jens Lekman is of the old school. You just know that he would come to dinner in a neatly pressed suit, hair even more neatly arranged and a clean handkerchief in the pocket, for emergencies.

Having admired his threads, the Sydney Morning Herald goes on to rave about the music.

The journey from Sweden to jihad

Film: October 16th, 2007 by PO

A new film looks at the experiences of two Swedish citizens who turned to terrorism.

Why do young men, who have grown up in the safe bosom of Scandinavia, want to sacrifice their lives for Allah?

That is the question posed by a Swedish documentary that provides a glimpse into the world of young European Muslims who dedicate themselves to jihad, or holy war.

The film, “Aching Heart,” will open in Sweden on Oct. 19 but has already gained much attention.

Read more about the film at the International Herald Tribune.

Teenage Swede invents the Binibottle

Business, Society: October 16th, 2007 by PO

Hats off to 15-year-old Anna Axelsson for the invention of the Binibottle.

Who would have thought the design of a water bottle could be drastically improved? Well if you’ve ever tried to fill one in a shallow sink or drinking fountain you’ll appreciate the clever design of the Binibottle. In addition to the twist cap on top, it also includes a sunken twist cap on the side allowing the bottle to be filled in a horizontal position. That means there’s no more trying to awkwardly angle the bottle to get it to fit under the faucet of a small sink.

Oh Gizmo has the story and the relevant links.

Moderates split on defence

Politics: October 16th, 2007 by PO

The Financial Times talks to one of the Moderate Party’s elder statesmen to get his take on recent military cutbacks.

Ivar Virgin does not seem the trouble-making kind. The former naval officer and vice-speaker of parliament is an elder statesman of Sweden’s governing centre-right Moderate party.

But now the loquacious 71-year-old has shunned the role of a sedate veteran, opting instead to pick a fight with a gang half his age – the party’s youthful leadership under Fredrik Reinfeldt, prime minister.

Sweden’s ambitions thwarted by financial ‘Wild West’

Business: October 12th, 2007 by PO

Sweden may need greater financial oversight if it is to entertain thoughts of competing on the global stage, the New York Times reports.

“I’m convinced we need a much stronger supervisory authority for the financial markets,” said Olle Rossander, a writer and a commentator on Swedish business. “We’ve had a tradition of self-regulation here; it’s been a little like the Wild West.”

EU slams Swedish transparency

Politics: October 12th, 2007 by PO

The European Commission looks set to instigate legal action against Sweden for its failure to restrict access to a confidential document.

Late last month the commission sent a formal letter to the Swedish authorities asking for explanation as to why environment group Greenpeace in 2005 got access to a document about a new type of genetically modified corn feed to be launched by Monsanto – the world’s leading producer of biotech seeds.

EU Observer has the story.

Sweden shoulders refugee burden

Politics, Society: October 12th, 2007 by PO

Reuters AlertNet joins the growing chorus of voices calling on other countries to accept their share of refugees from Iraq.

There seems to be increasing agreement that more must be done for refugees fleeing Iraq – but as Syria and Jordan effectively close their borders and other European countries continue to return Iraqi asylum seekers home, there are few countries willing to take in the displaced.

[...]

… the greatest number have headed north to Sweden, attracted by a reputation for generous welfare and refugee protection laws.

Some 20,000 have arrived in the last year alone, swelling the Iraqi diaspora to some 100,000, aid workers say.

“There is no country better than this,” 16-year-old Haidar Fozi Karim, who fled Baghdad for Syria two years ago with his family before leaving them to go to Sweden, told AlertNet at a refugee centre in Stockholm.

Environmental Utopia or dirty man of Europe?

Climate, Politics, Society: October 12th, 2007 by PO

The New Statesman travels to Sweden to compare the progress being made here with that of the UK:

The scientist across the table from me was laughing, unusually for a conversation about climate change. “You’re in environmental utopia now,” he beamed. This being Sweden, he was partly being ironic – but only partly.

Alternatives to a nuclear Sweden?

Climate, Politics: October 12th, 2007 by PO

Reuters talks to the Centre Party about Sweden’s nuclear future and the emergence of alternative fuel sources.

Nearly thirty years after Sweden voted to phase out nuclear energy, firms are quietly increasing plant capacity and there is no end in sight for a power source still providing half of the nation’s electricity.

Reform at a snail’s pace

Politics: October 4th, 2007 by PO

The American casts an eye over the incremental reforms being put in place by the current Swedish government.

There is a magnificent slowness to most everything in Sweden. Even during the coldest of winter days, Swedes stroll lazily through Stockholm, oblivious to the punishing winds beating their skin pink and the impatient non-natives attempting to find shelter from the furious Scandinavian cold. The Swedish language also lumbers, punctuated by odd breaths and awkward noises that, while not verifiable parts of speech, convey a full range of emotions.

But the most frustratingly ponderous aspect of Swedish life is the slow project of political reform.

David Cameron and the Swedish Moderates

Politics: October 3rd, 2007 by PO

Prospect Magazine wonders what lessons Britain’s Conservative leader David Cameron can learn from Sweden’s Moderates.

Moderaterna’s development over the last few years, and some of its electoral tactics, could serve as a blueprint to the Tories as to how to win power. However, Cameron should be careful; travel too far down this road towards the political centre, or even centre-left, as with Moderaterna, and it may cost him later.

It’s an interesting read although not everyone will agree with the arguments.

‘Gandhi should have been awarded Nobel Peace Prize’

History, Society: October 3rd, 2007 by PO

India’s CNN-IBN elicits a confession from a Swedish Nobel Foundation spokesman.

Gandhi was nominated five times for the Nobel but the Norwegian Nobel committee believed that the champion of non-violence could not be awarded because he was “neither a real politician nor a humanitarian relief worker.”

But now, for the first time ever, the Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation in Sweden, Michael Sohlman, says that it was a mistake by the Norwegian Peace committee.

“We missed a great Laureate and that’s Gandhi. It’s a big regret,” he admits.

Snus on the loose in US?

Business, Society: October 3rd, 2007 by PO

Can anyone halt the march of the little bags of moist tobacco that people stuff under their lips to make them look like boxers? the New York Times wonders.

With the Sweden experience as a blueprint, the American tobacco industry is looking to snus as a potentially profitable, less dangerous alternative to cigarettes.

Even if the US does accept the introduction of snus, the EU is unlikely to follow suit. As The Times points out:

Snus has been banned throughout the European Union since 1992. It is authorised only in Sweden, where it is so much part of the national culture that the country negotiated an exemption from the ban when it joined the union.

British American Tobacco (BAT) is calling on the EU to lift the ban but such a move is considered unlikely.