| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 181.1 | JARVSO | NETMAN::MORIN | TRAVELIN MAN | Wed Jan 14 1987 20:27 | 18 |
| Paul,
I sent your response to 181 to my Father-in-law Oscar Hanson who works
at the Shrewsbury MA facility. He was delighted. His mother's family
the Dahlstroms are from Jarvso, in the provience of Halsingland
(hope I spelled it right) He was wondering if you are familiar with
the area? If so could you please put up some current information
about Jarvso.
His mother came to the U.S. when she was a young woman. When
she retired she returned to Jarvso. She is now in a old peoples'
home call Kulthammar in Jarvso. We keep in touch with her but
she's in her 90s' and has lost her eyesight. So she can not keep
up with the local current events. Your efforts would be greatly
appreciated.
Oscar also expressed an interest in commuicating with you
personally if it is mutually aggreeable. His node address is
JAKE::HANSON.
|
| 181.2 | 1987: an interesting time! | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Thu Sep 10 1987 11:10 | 24 |
| Now that the AP and SISCOM wire services are no longer VTX infobases,
it is particularly helpful to have volunteer 'coorespondents' like Paul
Ahlgren.
According to an article in the September 2, 1987 edition of the
Christian Science Monitor [my mother-in-law, Lucia Olsson, faithfully
sends me clippings of every article on Sweden], this was indeed a
summer for sober reflection in Sweden. The Christian Science monitor
quotes Swedish undersecretary of foreign affairs, Pierre Schori, as
saying, "We are full of soul-searching."
Here's another interesting excerpt:
"Sweden used to be too smug and too sanctimonious, regarding itself
as 'the conscience of the world,' says Daniel Tarschys, a political
science professor and Liberal party member of {the Swedish} parliament.
'We used these [recent] tragedies to become more realistic.'"
The "tragedies" Tarschys refers to are: 1) the problems finding Palme's
assassin, 2) The Bofors illegal arms export scandal, and 3) Sweden's
rainest and coldest summer in this century.
Yes, indeed, Sweden in 1987 seems to be suffering from the 'Chinese
Curse' that says, "May you live in interesting times."
|
| 181.3 | Content but not uncomplaining | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Mon Jul 31 1989 14:29 | 161 |
| Group soc.culture.nordic
article 569
From: [email protected] (Anders Andersson)
Subject: Features, misfeatures and bugs (was Re: Socialism)
Organization: Uppsala University, Sweden
In article <[email protected]> [email protected] (David
Walden) writes:
> Rather than invite retorts, why not ask our Scandinavian
> participants what they like about their system and what they
> don't like? I have gotten some interesting (and not consistent)
> assessments of agreeable and disagreeable features of both
> systems from Scandinavians who are living here, and they have been
> very enlightening.
> For example: It's nice to have easily-affordable medical care.
> It's a pain to have to wait forever for an
> appointment with a doctor.
Adequate medical care regardless of the size of your wallet is nice,
yes, and I won't complain about that. However, the waiting problem is
severe. If the operation you need isn't acute, you may have to wait
for months or years (depending on what kind of operation it is). This
is an oft-debated problem, and it's of course a matter of resources.
People are actually dying in those queues. Not only the insurance
system is state-run, every major hospital is -- and those private
clinics that exist simply aren't given any share in the social
insurance budget, so their prices have to be HIGH!
The omnipresent Swedish "fairness" complex prevents attracting lots of
qualified doctors and nurses to state-owned clinics with extraordinary
salaries. It's a mystery to mee what they (with their education) do
instead, since those private clinics can't have that much staff all
together... On top of that, nurses have started to strike wardwise to
complain about a workload they can't handle. Some have collectively
filed their resignations, and eventually left when their ultimate
demands haven't been fulfilled. Talk about headache for those hospital
directors.
While more staff is needed, equipment doesn't seem to be a problem.
Private clinics have asked about renting otherwise unused state
hospital operating facilities, but I think the reply usually has been
negative, for ideological reasons.
To me it is obvious that the socialist parties (by which I mean the
Social Democrats and the small Communist party together with some of
the Environmentalists) must let go of their stubborn conviction that
privately run hospitals are unhealthy to the poor, and allow willing
contractors to help. I wonder when that will happen. In this issue,
it seems that even the Kremlin socialists are more open-minded. Here
in Sweden we have had glasnost most of the time, but no perestroika...
How, you may ask, is it possible that this government still has the
support of the voters? I don't know. While the above-mentioned
catastrophe is generally acknowledged and widely discussed, the public
debate is rather unobtrusive and little emphasis is put on the
difference that another government could make. Also, when it comes to
the weeks before election, politicians speak about their convictions
and visions about the future, while the journalists are cross-
examining them about exactly how much Mr. Average Svensson and his
family (and several of their poor neighbours) will lose or gain in
hard cash during the next three years (the election period)...
Nobody at all is even ASKING about the nation's economy!
"If the Government loses confidence in the People,
it had better disperse it and elect another one."
/Berthold Brecht
In my opinion, the Christian Democrats (who are not represented in the
parliament due to their small number of votes, ca 3%) gave the best
presentation of their plans, in the form of a hypothetical state budget
with all the detail, in last year's election campaign. They still
didn't get in. Instead, the Environmentalists got in (they weren't
represented either before), because they had cute, large-eyed,
pollution-threatened seals on their placards. I wonder how much the
seals have gained on that?
You may say that the journalists are biased, and they probably are, in
a lot of different directions. But that's a minor issue. The main
problem is that they are INCOMPETENT. In the fifties and sixties, news
reporters were pretty polite people letting their interviewees have
their say, thank you, good night. Since the seventies (maybe inspired
by Watergate?) they all think the most important thing in life is to
tread on the toes of politicians and businessmen alike, regardless of
whether that provides the reader/listener with any information or not.
A recent example: A consumer journalist "unmasks" the fact that a
certain producer of hair shampoo is cheating his customers by selling a
product that to 80% consists of ordinary water! The producer explains
the reason for the dilution of what would else be a useless powder, and
the journalist who didn't understand a word signs off the program by
repeating his finding of this case of profitable deception. OK, that
*was* a low water mark, but much of this "consumer journalism" goes on
in the same manner.
"Freedom of press is the freedom for 200 to speak their minds."
/Not sure... maybe Berthold Brecht again?
Nationwide wireless radio and television is monopolized by Sveriges
Radio, a state-owned company. They also have regional transmitters.
Only locally over some cities various political parties, organizations
and individuals may conduct radio broadcasts themselves. Sveriges Radio
has an obligation to be objective and fair with respect to political
opinions and the like, which in reality means that they impose their
own "neutral" bias upon everything they say. There is even a "radio
committee" issuing reprimands on programs that have failed to meet the
stated criteria.
There are two "competing" TV channels, each with its own news staff.
The weather reports are pretty good. There are no commercials, only ads
for their own TV guide as well as state propaganda (use seat belts in
your car, always notify the social insurance office about changed
income for your own sake; the latter almost became a hit!).
The activities of Sveriges Radio are paid by TV reception fees,
mandatory for all holders of TV sets irrespective of their watching
habits. That's a bug. The fee is currently some 150 USD/year. Only
shortwave radio transmissions to abroad are paid by taxes.
Cable TV is on the advance, distributed by both Televerket (the
National Telecommunications Administration) as well as several
independent companies. This often upsets people in flats who get cable
TV without asking for it (since it's being directly connected to the
existing communal aerial). As several foreign channels are distributed
without scrambling, the children watch TV most of the day (Sveriges
Radio only has very limited daytime broadcasts, mostly boring to
six-year-olds), and their parents require the distributor to filter out
their connections.
One popular cable (or satellite) channel is the independent, pan-
Scandinavian "TV3" with studio in London. They have good newscasts,
poor weather forecasts, commercial advertising and Swedish state
propaganda (use seat belts in your car...).
One thing I appreciate a lot is the relative stability in various areas
of life. The weather is usually very kind, no tornados and such. There
are no erupting volcanos, significant earthquakes or devastating floods
(thanks to the topography). There isn't terribly much street violence;
I can walk pretty safely through my town (pop. 150,000) alone at night
without to great a risk of being mugged. Standard of living is high, in
spite of (dare you say because of?) the up-side-down economical
thinking of the socialist establishment. No political riots, at least
not physically. However, I could stand the Social Democratic Party
being a little less stable in their hold of the government...
Another feature is the "allemansr{tt" or everybody's right to walk off
into the forest, regardless of who is the owner of the land, as long
as you don't intrude on somebody's living grounds, disturb animals or
destroy vegetation. Picking mushrooms and berries (as Jonas told about)
is OK. This right stems from an old tradition; the feudal tenants were
generally allowed to use the lands of their landlord in much the same
way. I understand this is not at all common on the European continent,
but maybe in the USA with its enormous land resources?
In general, I'm quite content with life here.
--
Anders Andersson, Dept. of Computer Systems, Uppsala University
Paper Mail: P.O. Box 520, S-751 20 UPPSALA, Sweden
Phone: +46 18 183170 EMail: [email protected]
|
| 181.4 | Commentary on .3 | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Tue Aug 01 1989 10:21 | 116 |
| Group soc.culture.nordic
article 624
From: [email protected] (Svante Lindahl)
Subject: Re: Features, misfeatures and bugs (was Re: Socialism)
Organization: Front Capital Systems, Stockholm, Sweden
In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Anders Andersson) writes:
> If the operation you need isn't acute, you may have to wait for months or
> years (depending on what kind of operation it is). This is an oft-debated
> problem, and it's of course a matter of resources. People are actually
> dying in those queues.
A few years ago when my grandmother needed an eye operation, she was
told that she would have to wait for six to nine months. She told them
that she didn't think she'd be alive then, and that reading was one of
the few pleasures left in her life. She got her operation considerably
faster.
> Not only the insurance system is state-run, every
> major hospital is -- and those private clinics that exist simply aren't
> given any share in the social insurance budget, so their prices have to
> be HIGH!
I go to a private clinic, and pay no more than I would at a regular
county-run hospitals (it's the counties that run the hospitals, not the
state, not that it makes a big difference). The rest is paid by the
insurance system (i.e. I have no private or personal insurance). This
is for checkups and minor ailments, if I'd need an operation or
something I'd have to go to one of the clinic would send me to a public
hospital.
> You may say that the journalists are biased, and they probably are, in
> a lot of different directions. But that's a minor issue. The main problem
> is that they are INCOMPETENT. In the fifties and sixties, news reporters
> were pretty polite people letting their interviewees have their say, thank
> you, good night. Since the seventies (maybe inspired by Watergate?) they
> all think the most important thing in life is to tread on the toes of
> politicians and businessmen alike, regardless of whether that provides the
> reader/listener with any information or not.
I think this "journalist bashing" (which seems to very popular, at
least among us Swedes in the computer business) is quite uncalled for.
(I may be a little biased though, both my parents started their careers
as journalists, and my sister just got BA from CUNY, majoring in
journalism...). Sure, there are some bad journalists, but there are
some bad computer scientists/programmers too, bad journalism gets a lot
more exposure though. Having spent two school years in the US, I have
read a few different American newspapers, and watched American news
programs on TV. I'll take Swedish newspapers and TV-news over American
any day. There are exceptions, NY Times isn't bad for example. Not that
Swedish media is perfect or anything, but not as bad as a lot of people
are saying.
> are pretty good. There are no commercials, only ads for their own TV guide
Nope, they can't advertise their TV guide any more. Now that there is a
competing TV guide, someone challenged their right to do this
advertising. They weren't allowed to continue.
> The activities of Sveriges Radio are paid by TV reception fees, mandatory
> for all holders of TV sets irrespective of their watching habits. That's
> a bug. The fee is currently some 150 USD/year. Only shortwave radio
> transmissions to abroad are paid by taxes.
Are you saying that the two TV channels, three national radio stations,
15-25 (whatever) regional radio stations are all funded by, and only
by, the licence fees? I don't think this is true. The rest of the money
may not come from taxes (allthough I always thought so), but I'm pretty
sure there is more funding than just license fees.
> Cable TV is on the advance, distributed by both Televerket (the National
> Telecommunications Administration) as well as several independent companies.
> This often upsets people in flats who get cable TV without asking for it
> (since it's being directly connected to the existing communal aerial). As
> several foreign channels are distributed without scrambling, the children
> watch TV most of the day (Sveriges Radio only has very limited daytime
> broadcasts, mostly boring to six-year-olds), and their parents require
> the distributor to filter out their connections.
Some people object to paying for a cable that they never asked for, nor
wanted in the first place. My guess is that more people object to
paying for something that they do not want, than who complain that it
gives their children the opportunity to watch too much televison. (A
combination of both is probably not uncommon).
> without to great a risk of being mugged. Standard of living is high, in
> spite of (dare you say because of?) the up-side-down economical thinking
> of the socialist establishment. No political riots, at least not
Standard of living is still high, but the average Swede has lost a lot
of his purchasing power the last 10-15 years. Last year the Stockholm
Stock Exchange was one of the top stock exchanges in the world, the
total value went up by something like 50% or more. Quite upside-down
for a "socialist establishment" :-).
Actually I'm not really disagreeing with Anders over this, the Social
Democrats have made a lot of really stupid decisons in economic
matters, often under pressure from the blue collar trade union, and
their leader Stig Malm (who is also a member of the board of the S-D
party). 80 percent (or is it 90?) of all blue collar workers are
organized, almost all of them in the one big union.
> physically. However, I could stand the Social Democratic Party
> being a little less stable in their hold of the government...
Change, if for no other reason than change itself, would probably be a
good thing. I don't have much sympathy for any of the parties we have,
but I think that the S-D party gets worse and worse, the safer they
feel at staying in power.
> In general, I'm quite content with life here.
I can agree with this.
Svante
|
| 181.5 | Banks on 'holiday' | MLTVAX::SAVAGE | Neil @ Spit Brook | Fri Feb 09 1990 09:01 | 48 |
| From: [email protected] (Lars-Henrik Eriksson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Swedish banking holiday
Date: 8 Feb 90 15:55:19 GMT
Organization: Swedish Institute of Computer Science
In article <[email protected]> [email protected] (David Walden) writes:
> My lady-spy in Stockholm (named Susan) has told me about the
> banking "holiday" going on over there. No wonder I can't find
> out how many kronor my dollars are worth. What does this mean
> to the average Swede who has to use the subways and buses? Do
> they take credit cards? Are the automatic tellers working?
> How about American Express?
Surprisingly it doesn't affect most people very much. There was a
week's warning and most sallaries were paid just before the lockout.
Everyone has stocked up cash, so there's no big problem. Yet.
The most noteable difference is that sales of things that are not
immedeately neccessary - such as clothes, cars, record players etc -
have dropped sharply. Supermarkets say they haven't noticed any drop
in sales.
All automatic tellers are shut down. Credit cards and cheques may work.
Since there is no way of checking them, it is up to every individual
store to decide if the want to accept them or not. Most stores seem to
take credit cards and cheques below the amount where they would
normally call the bank to check them.
American Express works as usual, since that card is not administrated
by the banks. Except for the retailers own cards, that is the only
card without restrictions.
The important thing is that the postal giro system is still working,
since the post office is not involved in the conflict. Payments using
this system works as usual, also abroad. The post office will cash
bank checks up to a certain amount. Some employers, the social
security office, etc. have started paying sallaries and compensations
by postal money order.
As a curiosity, the pawnbrokers (right word?) have the time of their
life... Some of them have made agreements with large retailers to
borrow cash while the conflict lasts, making both parties happy.
Lars-Henrik Eriksson Internet: [email protected]
Swedish Institute of Computer Science Phone (intn'l): +46 8 752 15 09
Box 1263 Telefon (nat'l): 08 - 752 15 09
S-164 28 KISTA, SWEDEN
|
| 181.6 | Spread to Finland | MLTVAX::SAVAGE | Neil @ Spit Brook | Mon Feb 12 1990 15:08 | 23 |
| From: [email protected] (Kimmo Saarinen)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Swedish banking holiday
Date: 9 Feb 90 17:19:43 GMT
Organization: Technical Research Centre of Finland
Funny coincidence (as we always follow the Sweden:-), the bank
employees will start their strike within a week. However, the bank
employees prevented employers being members of the trade union to come
to work (sorry, I don't know the exact words), so the doors have been
shut a week and a half already and the effects are the same as in
Sweden. This is the time of tight budget for me, its not a question of
money but of the access to it, it may take a long time before the
contract is made between the employers and the trade union (the trade
union have money for a strike lasting two months) ! Let's see !
Kimmo
--
Kimmo Saarinen ! e-mail [email protected]
Technical Research Centre of Finland ! Tel. +358 31 163 357
Medical Engineering Laboratory ! Fax 174 102
P.O.BOX 316, SF-33101 Tampere, Finland ! ... completely mad ...
|
| 181.7 | affects? | NORGE::CHAD | Ich glaube Ich t�te Ich h�tte | Tue Feb 13 1990 10:33 | 9 |
| I was in Stockholm Jan 27, 28, and 30 (29 in Helsinki). That is about when this
whole bank strike started. From talking with the people I was staying with
and the little I understood from the newspaper, the bank employees want a
20% hike in pay, or on average about 2800 kr/month. Could someone with more
info please share it with us??? How are *you* affected?
Thanks
Chad
|
| 181.8 | See also Note 379 | MLTVAX::SAVAGE | Neil @ Spit Brook | Mon Feb 19 1990 09:22 | 2 |
| Discussion of bank action-related troubles in Sweden continues in Note
379.
|
| 181.9 | Gov't presents currency 'crisis package' | NEILS::SAVAGE | | Mon Oct 29 1990 12:20 | 63 |
| From: [email protected] (Mats Winberg)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Newsreport: Swedish gov'ts press conference
Keywords: Newsreport Sweden
Date: 26 Oct 90 16:58:07 GMT
Organization: Ericsson
Today the swedish government presented their crisis package in response
to the crisis of the swedish currency. The press conference is still in
progress at the Parliament. Some of the items are:
* Cuts in the public expenses with 15000 million SEK (~2600 MUSD)
- 6100 MSEK cut in Social Department:
Health insurance:
75% compensation first 3 days of sickness
(90% before) 90% after 3 days
80% compensation for care of sick child
(100% before)
- 1200 MSEK cut in Defense and Foreign Ministries:
No repetition manuevres next year
- 3000 MSEK cut in Communication and Education Ministries:
Cuts in railroad investments, cuts in home language
education
* 10% cut in bureaucracy:
- University and Higher Education Administration (UHAE)
will be closed or their resources will be transfered
to education and the universities.
- Transport Council (60 employees) will be closed down.
* Deregulation in transport sector
* Vattenfall will be a become joint-stock company
* Stricter anti-trust and more competition promoting legislation.
* Government will ask the Parliament to take a resolution stating
Sweden's ambition to become a full member of the EEC.
* Government will invite the other parties to revise the
constitution:
- The term of office will probably be prolonged.
- Local and national election days will probably be
separated.
**********************
Will this be enough to stop the flow of money out of Sweden ? Will this
lower the interest rate, which was raised by the Central Bank
(Riksbanken) to a record 18% last week ? Will this restore the
confidence in the Swedish economy ?
Time will tell...
Mats Winberg
[email protected]
|
| 181.10 | Andersson's speech to Riksdag | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Feb 21 1991 12:54 | 38 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.news.group.blacks,clari.news.europe,
clari.news.issues.civil_rights,clari.news.fighting,
clari.news.gov.international
Subject: Sweden may rethink South Africa sanctions, call for gulf ceasefire
Date: 20 Feb 91 13:41:43 GMT
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (UPI) -- Sweden, one of white South Africa's most
bitter critics, may soon reconsider sanctions against Pretoria because
of "improved conditions in the country," Foreign Minister Sten
Andersson said Wednesday.
Delivering a major foreign policy speech to Sweden's parliament on
South Africa and the Persian Gulf war, Andersson said the time "is soon
ripe" to remove sanctions.
"There have been important steps towards change in South Africa,"
Andersson said. "Therefore, the time when Sweden will reconsider the
sanctions against South Africa will soon be here."
Sweden introduced a weapons embargo against South Africa in 1977 and
continuously stepped up anti-apartheid sanctions until a total Swedish
trade boycott was imposed in 1987.
Only a handful of Swedish companies remained in South Africa after
the total trade boycott.
The foreign minister gave no time period for discussion on a removal
of sanctions, apart from suggesting that full governmental debate on the
issue was imminent.
Switching to the war, Andersson urged the U.S.-led alliance against
Iraq to introduce a ceasefire to let Iraqi troops leave Kuwait if
Baghdad agrees to withdraw from the emirate it invaded Aug. 2.
"If Iraq makes a clear and undisputable statement that it will
withdraw from Kuwait, then the alliance must make it militarily possible
for them to do so. That is only possible during a ceasefire," Andersson
said.
He said the 12 United Nations Security Council resolutions passed
against Iraq only gave a mandate to the coalition to free Kuwait.
"I take it for granted that the alliance will not start the ground
attack until the United Nations has had time to go through (Soviet
President Mikhail) Gorbachev's peace plan," Andersson said.
|
| 181.11 | Tram accident in Gothenburg | TLE::SAVAGE | | Fri Mar 13 1992 16:37 | 35 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.news.trouble,clari.news.europe
Subject: Swedish tram jumps tracks, killing 6
Date: 12 Mar 92 13:33:46 GMT
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (UPI) - A streetcar in Gothenburg, Sweden jumped
the track on a busy street Thursday and plummeted uncontrollably down a
hill, killing at least six persons, police said.
``On its way down the hill, the streetcar demolished several
vehicles, ploughed into pedestrians, and only came to a stop when it
crashed into a high street building,'' a Gothenburg police spokesman
said.
Police said more than 30 people were injured in the accident,
including seven in critical condition at a local hospital.
At least 16 ambulances were sent to the scene and local radio
stations asked for blood donors.
Apparently unable to brake, the streetcar gathered speed, raced
downhill, smashed into stationary and crossing vehicles and stopped only
when it crashed into a shop.
Many of those hurt had been queueing at a streetcar stop where an
unusually large number of people were standing due to a general
streetcar stoppage.
``People jumped in panic when they saw the streetcar coming down the
hill,'' said Gunnar Rosenqvist, a witness to the accident told Swedish
television.
Another eyewitness said the streetcar caught fire after it finally
came to a stop.
``There was an awful noise and lots of smoke,'' said Arne Liberg,
whose office faced the main square.
``Then there was an uncanny silence and suddenly police and rescue
vehicles started arriving,'' he added.
Gothenburg police said an investigation was under way to determine
the cause of the tram accident. It was the worst tram accident ever in
Gothenburg, which relies on streetcars for much of its public transport.
|
| 181.12 | More on tram accident | KURTAN::WESTERBACK | After all, who is John Galt? | Sat Mar 14 1992 06:31 | 29 |
| Re tram accident:
Now 13 dead, 40 injured. It seems the accident was a result of the
human factor and ignorance. The tram was standing on the top of a
hill, stopped because of power outage.
When there's no power the main brakes are automatically locked, but
now these were manually released, and they were going to let the
tram roll down the hill 20 meters to a part where there were power,
then stop it with the emergency brakes. All of this is still a bit
unclear, and under investigation. But it seems that the emergency
brakes need battery power to work, and that the batteries had been
deactivated to save their power when the tram was standing still.
And even then it's not certain that the emergency brakes would be
able to stop the tram when it has gathered some speed.
The supervisor who ordered this operation and released the brakes,
says he didn't know that the emergency brakes would not work. The
driver in the tram couldn't do anything to stop it. He survived with
minor injuries.
A policecar was there to keep the traffic away when the tram was to
be rolled down. When they realized it was out of control, they drove
in front of it with sirens on to warn the traffic, quite successfully
at first. But after going down over a kilometer on the track, with a
speed of 80-100 kph, it came to a switch where it derailed, ran through
the waiting queue who didn't have time to get out of the way, and then
it folded over and ran into the building, crushing a couple of cars
that got in the way, and killing people inside the cars also.
Hans
|
| 181.13 | large fires | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Jul 15 1992 13:03 | 34 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Date: 15 Jul 92 07:28:54 GMT
Sender: [email protected] (Usenet)
Organization: KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, School of Electrical
Engineering
Well, the fire on the border between skane and smaland is still
uncontrolled but they are slowly getting it under control. That fire
has burnt down about 12-15 square kilometers.
The fire on gotland is now fairly under control, it's as big as the one
in skane/smaland, but the smoke has not (to my knowledge) got to
helsinborg, it should be helsingfors (swedish for helsinki)... The
finnish fire departments was forced to use national radio broadcasts in
order to calm the people in Finland. Apperently the finns thought that
it was burning somewhere in the neighbourhood...
Gunnar Forssell [email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Pekka Juhani Taipale)
Subject: Re: query about blowing up statues
Sender: [email protected] (Usenet pseudouser id)
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1992 06:01:19 GMT
Actually, fire alarm telephone numbers were almost jammed in South-West
Finland a couple of days. People called because they smelled the smoke
from Gotland. That's quite a long way.
--
[email protected]
|
| 181.14 | BIG party, perhaps too big? | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Aug 12 1992 10:43 | 31 |
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Mats Winberg)
Subject: Stockholm Water Festival
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: Ericsson
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1992 13:05:43 GMT
The second Stockholm Water Festival started last Friday with
the world's largest crayfish party at Gustaf Adolfs Torg. It
continues throughout this week with music, gastronomic and water
activities in the center of Stockholm. The most popular item is
hte fireworks which takes place over Riddarfjaerden every other
night. Hundreds of thousands spectators line up around the Maelar
bay to look and comment on the fireworks. Taiwan and USA have
already performed, last year it was Spain who won the unofficial
world championships in fireworks.
The festival have become too popular, it's simply too crowded
to be fun, so next year they will charge an entrance fee to
the festival area to keep the numbers of people down...
Gotta go now, I'm going to listen to my favourite item:
Lars Vegas Trio, a cover band specialising in corny old Swedish
"schlagers"... They're performing today at the scene at Norrbro.
Mats Winberg
[email protected]
|
| 181.15 | More on the Stockholm Water Festival | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue Sep 01 1992 14:59 | 31 |
| From: [email protected] (Peter Sj�str�m)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Stockholm Water Festival
Date: 22 Aug 92 12:59:40 GMT
Organization: Lule� H�gskolas datorf�rening ( Ludd )
In <[email protected]> [email protected] (Steve Dakin) writes:
>pardon me if I'm jumping in kind of late, but when is the Water
Festival?
The Stockholm Water Festival started 1991. It is a festival lasting
ten days around the beginning of August. It has lots of music,
activities for all, young or old, lots of street markets, food, world
championship in fireworks (Spain won in 91, dunno about this year). I
think over 2 million people visited it in 91.
I was in Stockholm during the whole festival this year. It was
great! Sometimes it was so much people in the streets that you couldn't
even get through. The fireworks were fantastic! (every second day;
Taiwan, USA, France, Spain and Germany competed) There were a street
carneval, students' water race with strange vehicles (SQUALP?), the
great (?) duck race etc. You get lots of rebates at hotels and can
travel cheap to the festival using the special 'pass' that cost SEK 50
(9 USD). You also get lots of offers with that pass like all museums
for half the price etc.
(Can someone please fill me in or explain further! I'm not too
talkative right now.)
/Peter
|
| 181.16 | Bite the bullet and tighten the belt | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue Sep 22 1992 11:25 | 57 |
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Mats Winberg)
Subject: Dramatic weekend in Sweden
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: Ericsson
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1992 07:49:30 GMT
Last weekend the four-party coalition government and the major
opposition party the Social Democrats, agreed on cutting spending
and raising taxes by more than 40 billion Swedish Crowns. The
agreement came about after a week where the crown had been subject
to massive speculation about a devaluation and where the central
bank had gone to unprecedented extremes in defending the fixed
exchange rate of the krona. Adding to the crisis were the financial
system, where the holding company of Gotabanken cancelled its
payments.
The agreement negotiated during the weekend had to be presented
before monday to have an impact on the money market.
Some of the items of the agreement are:
- The insurance system is dropped from the state budget, and
will instead be the responsibility of the employers and
employees organizations (Note: This doesn't mean that there
will be an American situation; insurance is still mandatory,
but the amount will be negotiated between the unions and the
employers)
- Defence cuts by 3.5 billion crowns (2 air bases will go)
- Higher tax on gasoline (1 kr/litre leaded, 0,50 kr/litre
unleaded)
- No raised child benefits for next year.
- No lowered capital/property tax (still 30%)
- No "custody benefits" (This was a benefit for everyone taking
care of a child, it was designed to compensate those who
couldn't get state subsided day-care)
- Cuts in the foreign aid and the dayily allowance to refugees.
Cuts in the Immigration Authority costs for refugee camps.
(They will no longer have their own TV sets, an immigration
official said in my morning paper today)
- No raise in pensions, pension age is raised 1 year to 66.
The goal of the agreement is to get rid of the structural budget
deficit and to restore confidence in the Swedish economy. No other
country in Europe has gone to such lengths to defend its currency.
Great Britain, Finland, Italy all gave up the struggle. But in Sweden
the financial system is so shaky that it is unclear if the banks could
survive a devaluation. There are still rumours that SE-Banken
Scandinavias largest bank is in deep trouble.
Mats Winberg
|
| 181.17 | Change in sickness and accident benefits | TLE::SAVAGE | | Tue Sep 22 1992 11:28 | 56 |
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Lars Petrus)
Subject: Re: Say It Ain't So, Sweden!
Sender: [email protected] (Usenet)
Organization: Stacken Computer Club, Stockholm, Sweden
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1992 07:59:33 GMT
In article <[email protected]> [email protected]
writes:
>Headline in the Toronto Globe & Mail Sept 21: "Sweden makes major cuts in
>social welfare spending." Included in the story was this statement: "The most
>revolutionary cut was an agreement to eventually drop sickness and accident
>payments from the state insurance system." It seems unbelieveable; is it true,
>Sweden?--
It's true, but it's not as radical as it may seem. Those payments will
be removed from the state insurance system, but only to immediately
reappear as mandatory insurances to be provided by the employer.
This was done as a part of the "Great Crisis Package" that was
negotiated between thursday and saturday. The poster who assumed that
this was done for well thought reason was more wrong than he could have
imagined. Before friday, nobody had even heard of such a suggestion,
and nobody yet knows anything of how it will work. The only thing that
has been decided is that it *will* be done.
If you get the feeling that somebody is panicking, you are probably
right!
- - - -
"The more I need,
the more I can't get.
That's the way the trap is set."
(Blue For Two)
Lars Petrus, Solna, Sweden - [email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [email protected] (Dan Kiselman)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Say It Ain't So, Sweden!
Date: 22 Sep 1992 10:32:57 GMT
Organization: Uppsala University
Sender: [email protected] (Dan Kiselman)
This change of the insurance system was not invented during the
weekend. The social democrats (at least their inner circles) have had
this idea for some time. It is said to be similar to the system in
Germany, where it was introduced by Bismarck. The new system seems to
be the least controversial thing in all this turmoil.
--
Dan Kiselman, Uppsala Astronomical Observatory, Sweden
[email protected]
|
| 181.18 | Re: .16: expect quick passage by parliament | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Sep 23 1992 12:25 | 19 |
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Tomas Eriksson)
Sender: [email protected] (Usenet)
Organization: Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1992 13:45:24 GMT
The Swedish parliament, Riksdagen, is not yet in session for the
season. They will open in a week and a half or so. They've had their
summer vacation since early June. Major parts parts of the package
will probably be passed the same week they open, since the negotiations
are finished, and a large majority is secured. Parts will be sent to
various committes, which will have a tight schedule to review the
government proposal.
Tomas
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tomas Eriksson [email protected]
Surface Force Group, Department of Physical Chemistry,
Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
|
| 181.19 | Sports Swedes excell in: add ultimate frisbee to list | TLE::SAVAGE | | Fri Jan 08 1993 12:52 | 11 |
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Bob Hammarberg)
Subject: Sweden - World frisbee champions?
Sender: [email protected] (Usenet News Administration)
Organization: Department of Political Science, University of Minnesota
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 15:38:27 GMT
The New York Times (which never tells a lie) lists Sweden as the
champion of the Open Division of the World Ultimate Championship in
frisbee.
|
| 181.20 | Swedes more dissatisfied than content these days | TLE::SAVAGE | | Mon Oct 11 1993 15:13 | 33 |
| From: [email protected] (Magnus Lycka)
Newsgroups: alt.atheism.moderated
Date: 11 Oct 1993 11:14:48 +0100
Organization: Chalmers University of Technology
Sender: [email protected]
Well, our economy has lost a lot of it's strength, and unemployment has
risen to normal European levels. In the same time, we have received a
lot of refugees from Iran, Iraq, Yugoslavia etc. It's perhaps not so
strange that more people say "Throw out the foreigners" today. It's not
less sad of course, but I think that it will change if the economy gets
better again. There is only one significant party (with 7% or so) - New
Democracy - that doesn't vividly oppose the racist tendencies (although
not all the others are as vivid...).
The other tendency towards something that you might call nationalism is
that more people are against a membership in the EC, than are in
favour. The pro-EC movement sometimes tries to connect these two
things, but it's rather silly to describe a membership in a club of
rich western European countries as an act of international
solidarity...
The Christian Democratic party entered the Parliament after failing to
do this for more than 20 years, and that could be regarded as a
significant event. But there are two things that must be noted here.
This party used to be very Christian, but has lowered the religious
"voice" and now describes itself as a party you can vote for regardless
of beliefs. The other thing is that the voters were very dissatisfied
with all established parties. All parties that had had seats in the
parliament lost votes. The Green party was thrown out, and two new
parties (Xian democrats and "New Democracy" (which is usually called
New Dictatorship due to lack of internal democracy)) entered - and
might well be thrown out again after the next election.
|
| 181.21 | Will Allemansr�tten become obsolete? | TLE::SAVAGE | | Mon Jan 31 1994 10:20 | 59 |
| Re: .3:
>Another feature is the "allemansr�t" or everybody's right to walk off
>into the forest, regardless of who is the owner of the land ...
From: [email protected] (Fredrik �stman)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Soviet Army Maps of Sweden
Date: 30 Jan 1994 11:05:35 GMT
Organization: Ellemtel Telecom Systems Labs, Stockholm, Sweden
Allemansr�tten is an (so far very reasonable) infringement on the Right
of Ownership. It was conceptualised at the time when the big Forest
companies bought up most of the forests and started rational forest
farming in the 19th century. Probably, the politicians wanted to make
it easier for the forest companies to buy land from the farmers, who
were often reluctant to sell.
Sweden was sparsely populated and not very rich, there weren't roads
everywhere so people had to cross the companies' forests in their daily
life, just as they had before. They also used to take care of berries
and mushrooms in the forests, which the forest companies didn't care
about. With the event of active outdoor leisure life, the
characteristics and use of Allemansr�tten has changed slightly, but it
hasn't proposed any major problems, thanks to the discipline and
knowledge of the Swedes, a low recreation pressure on immense land
areas, and a uniform, legally regulated, use of forests.
Today, things are changing. Especially the integration in Europe could
propose some problems regarding Allemansr�tten. European tourists may
present a higher recreation pressure, of people with less discipline
and knowledge. Many Swedes have bad experience of what German tourists
can do to an unregulated recreation area. There is also the
social-democrats who appreciate the ownership-infringement aspects of
Allemansr�tten in its own right. They have already in the name of
equivalence with Allemansr�tten stolen private fishing rights along the
coasts and in the greater lakes to give them up for free fishing. Now
they are hoping to use the good name of Allemansr�tten to further
decrease the protection of private ownership in other areas, with the
alledged purpose of putting Allemansr�tten into legal code before we
join the EU.
I think Allemansr�tten in many aspects is becoming obsolete. It is
based on an assumption that all land is used for traditional forestry.
Active agricultural land is basically not included in Allemansr�tten.
People who want to use their land for other purposes, such as selling
outdoor life to tourists, or game farming, are in some cases not
allowed to put up fences or in other ways keep people out. With the
increasing demand for recreation, it is questionable to force land
owners to accomodate it for free. No-one is any longer dependent on
Allemansr�tten for their subsistence. I am not saying it should be
expressly removed, but codifying it would be a great mistake.
Allemansr�tt or not should be the choice of the land owner.
---
______ _~
(_/_ _ _ _/) _ . /) / ) , _/) _
__/ _/(_(/_(/__/(_/_/Z_ (_/_/)_/__/))_(I_/)_
|
| 181.22 | ALU is Sweden's 'workfare' | TLE::SAVAGE | | Mon Jan 31 1994 11:18 | 25 |
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Lars-Henrik Eriksson)
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: Swedish Institute of Computer Science, Kista
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 1994 08:45:50 GMT
It seems that the government is finally on the right track with the ALU
system.
For non-Swedes: it is a system under which unemployed can get temporary
positions to do work that would't be done by ordinary staff. They will
not get salary but keep their unemployment benefits. The point is that
usually, unemployment benefits are limited to one year. Time spend
working in an ALU position don't count toward this year.
ALU was introduced when unemployent became widespread enough that lots
of people would drop out of the unemployment benefit system (welfare
would then be all that remained). With ALU they can keep their benefits
indefinitely while doing useful work at the same time.
--
Lars-Henrik Eriksson Internet: [email protected]
Swedish Institute of Computer Science Phone (intn'l): +46 8 752 15 09
Box 1263 Telefon (nat'l): 08 - 752 15 09
S-164 28 KISTA, SWEDEN Fax: +46 8 751 72 30
|
| 181.23 | late April 1994 | CASDOC::SAVAGE | | Mon Apr 25 1994 10:12 | 31 |
| From: "Jonas E. Anderson" <[email protected]>
"International Swedish Interest discussion list" 24-APR-1994 18:37:47.51
To: Multiple recipients of list SWEDE-L <[email protected]>
Organization: Central Michigan University
Subj: News
Hi y'all!!! Here is some news from the weekly paper Sverige-Nytt
<Sweden News>.
A recent survey in Sweden asked young people about their future
expectations. Overall was it a very pessimistic and crises dominated
the views they had. Two out of three believe that the present level of
unemployment is going to increase or at least remain at the present
level by the year 2000. 50 % of them believe that the most important
issue is the unemployment, compaired to last year when the environment
had the first rank. Every third person believes that war is the biggest
threat to their welfare in the future. The young people's trust towards
politicians are very low. They ranked politicians and journalists at
the lowest rank of a number of professions. There is also a tendency
towards a increased difference between young people on the country side
and people in the cities as far as beliefs in their capacity of
"surviving in the increased tecnological society in the future.
The export of goods has increased. During January was it 28 % higher
than January last year. The highest increase was with the lumber
industry, a 47 % increase.
Marie Bergman and Roger Pontare are representing Sweden in the European
Song Contest in Dublin April 30th. This is the 3rd time for Marie,
which participated the first time 1971!!.
|
| 181.24 | Re: .21: right of public access revisited | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu May 26 1994 13:03 | 50 |
|
From: [email protected] (Ahrvid Engholm)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: 24 hour camping rights in Sweden and elsewhere?
Date: 26 May 1994 01:52:50 GMT
Organization: Stacken Computer Club, Stockholm, Sweden
This is a part of the Swedish "allemansr�tten" (everyman's right) which
is traditional set of rules that gives to access, under responsibility,
to nature:
Stay out of soccer fields, farmland and city parks. You may camp
anywhere in a forest, however. The basic rule is that you must be out
of sight of any building (which makes camping in or near cities
difficult). And don't camp on any land that is allocated for some
purpose, for instance a park or fenced in farmland, even it it is out
of sight of buildings.
You may also pick berries and mushrooms and most flowers (some flowers
are protected, though). You may take branches that have fallen to the
ground and make a fire; you may not cut down trees, you may not make a
fire if the local fire authorities has issued a ban, and you may not
make a fire on bare cliffs (they will be damaged from the heat). You
may cross private property, but not gardens or fields with crops
growing. You may also fish with hand held rods in [saltwater] and
the four biggest lakes, without permit. You may not drive off-road, and
you may not unleash your dog during the mating season for most animals.
And of course, you must not throw garbage around.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Lars-Henrik Eriksson)
Subject: Re: 24 hour camping rights in Sweden and elsewhere?
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: Swedish Institute of Computer Science, Kista
Date: Thu, 26 May 1994 07:24:08 GMT
Fencing in itself does not put the land off limits. In fact, fencing in
Sweden has no legal meaning it itself. You are always allowed to climb
fences if you don't damage anything. Likewise signs of "private
property" has no legal implications.
(I'm not implying that it is always legal to enter land inside a fence
- only that the fence itself is irrelevant.)
--
Lars-Henrik Eriksson Internet: [email protected]
Swedish Institute of Computer Science Phone (intn'l): +46 8 752 15 09
Box 1263 Telefon (nat'l): 08 - 752 15 09
S-164 28 KISTA, SWEDEN Fax: +46 8 751 72 30
|
| 181.25 | End of May 1994 | TLE::SAVAGE | | Fri Jun 03 1994 13:50 | 83 |
| From: "Jonas E. Anderson" <[email protected]>
To: International Swedish Interest discussion list
<[email protected]>
Organization: Central Michigan University
Subject: Swedish News from Sverige Nytt
Hej Hopp !!!! Here's some translated news from the weekly paper Sverige
Nytt:
*Society: According to a rescent study from Socialstyrelsen up to 10%
of the Swedish population can be considered as poor. The gaps
between the different segment of the population the class-
difference is on it's way up again. Despite the good times
during the 80's [only those already in] a solid financial
situation saw any financial improvement. People in
Socialgrupp 4 and Immigrants, and single mothers all had their
financial margins shrink even more.
Every 4th Swede had no "cash-margin" -- that is, unable to
raise 12.000 Skr within 1 week in case of unexpected expenses.
The dependency on Social Welfare is approaching 7 %, which
is equal to the dependency during the depression during the 30's.
(Personal comment: I have filtered out several comments made by
a representative from LO, which for some reason was present at
the pressconference. His comments were purely political and
and little other relevance than political smeering)
*Political poll(22 April_11 May):
Moderaterna 22,6% (+1,7)
Folkpartiet 8.6% (-0,1)
Centerpartiet 7,1% (-1,5)
Kds 4,9% (+0,9)
Ny Demokrati 3,4% (-1,5)
Socialdemokrati 45,0% (-1,2)
Vansterpartiet 4,9% (+1,5)
Miljopartiet 3,3% (+0.,2)
*EU-poll:
The Swedish population would right now vote no to EU.
As of the latest poll 34% YES 40% NO
This could be further divided into other categories such as:
Men 42 % YES 36 % NO
Women 26 % YES 43 % NO
People under 30 years old:
50 % YES 50 % NO
*The Unemployment: April 1st - 310.000 unemployed, equal to 7,4%.
That's 20.000 less than last year at the same time.
Part of it is due to a decrease in the workforce though.
*The Swedish Soccer-team:
The Director of the team, Tommy Svensson, has
made his pick of players:
Goalies: 1. Thomas Ravelli
12. Lars Eriksson
22. Magnus Hedman
Defense: 2. Roland Nilsson
3. Patrik Andersson
4. Joachim Bjorklund
5. Roger Ljung
13. Mikael Nilsson
Midfield: 6 Stefan Schwarz
8 Klas Ingesson
9 Jonas Thern
16 Anders Limpar
17 Stefan Rehn
18 Hakan Mild
21 Jesper Blomqvist
Forward: 7 Henrik Larsson
10 Martin Dahlin
11 Tomas Brolin
19 Kenneth Andersson
20 Magnus Erlingmark
That's it, have a nice day, Jonas
|
| 181.26 | A bridge to Denmark? | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Jun 16 1994 12:32 | 14 |
| From: [email protected] (Kurt Swanson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: A Bridge At Last!
Date: 16 Jun 1994 14:28:18 GMT
Organization: Lund Institute of Technology, Sweden
The Swedish government has now decided that a bridge will be built
between Malm� and K�benhavn! As an added plus, Center party leader
Olof Johansson has resigned as environment minister, at least until the
September election! Hooray!
--
Kurt Swanson, Dept. of Computer Science,
Lund University. [email protected] (http://www.dna.lth.se/EHP/kurt.html)
|
| 181.27 | A bridge to Malm� (& Lund) | BCFI::LIDEN | | Fri Jun 17 1994 08:14 | 15 |
| They have decided to build a bridge to connect Malm� to K�benhavn not to
connect Sweden to Denmark.
Malm� - K�benhavn > 20 km
Helsingborg - Helsing�r (Elsinore) < 5 km
Which is cheapest and fastest?
A tunnel Helsingborg - Helsing�r would be most beneficial for everyone
except perhaps the population of the Malm�/Lund area.
Cheers,
Christer
|
| 181.28 | combination bridge and tunnel | XAPPL::DEVRIES | Mark DeVries | Fri Jun 17 1994 11:47 | 9 |
| I heard about this on Radio Nederland last night. They represented it
as a combination of a bridge and a tunnel, connecting Sweden and
Denmark.
Sorry, I don't have an atlas handy (and can't type diacritical marks on
my PC keyboard, either). How does "Malmo to Kobenhavn" compare to
"Sweden to Denmark"? (Kobenhavn is what the U.S. calls Copenhagen?)
-Mark
|
| 181.29 | Shorter & cheaper | BCFI::LIDEN | | Mon Jun 20 1994 07:00 | 22 |
| Goodemittag Mark,
Roughly 60 kms north of Malm� the distance is less than 5 kms between
Sweden and Denmark. Today all the trin ferries go that way. I think it
would be much faster and cheaper to build a tunnel or a bridge there and
down in between Malm� & Copenhagen where the distance is more than 20
kms.
The area of Malm� will of course benefit more of having big Copenhagen in
easier reach.
But for communications with the rest of Sweden and Norway the northern
alternative Helsingborg - Elsinore ("The town of Hamlet") would be much
faster and the construction costs much lower.
Met de meeste hoogachting
Christer
(I know it is old fashioned polite phrase, but "Ek praat nie Nederlands
nie, "only" een biecke Afrikaans" or something like that)
|
| 181.30 | Discontented voters | TLE::SAVAGE | | Mon Jul 25 1994 15:48 | 23 |
| From: Torkel Franzen <[email protected]>
To: International Swedish Interest discussion list
<SWEDE-L%[email protected]>
Subject: Today's papers
The politicians are just starting their campaigns aimed at the upcoming
general elections. The Swedish economy is in a dismal state, in spite
of a booming export industry, with the budget deficit and the national
debt increasing at a phenomenal rate [See related stories at 47.33 and
290.20]. Reactions to this vary from suggestions that the entire
welfare state should be dismantled to the notion that undoing the tax
reform of a few years ago should set things straight.
At present, the social democrat opposition is way ahead of the
government in the polls, presumably because of the general tendency of
the electorate to assume that the opposition will do better than the
incumbent government when times are rough. Politicians of all stripes
try to keep their favorite slogans bright and shiny, but it's not clear
that their hearts are really in it.
Then there's the referendum on Sweden's membership in the European
Union, which is coming up after the elections, and here the politicians
are having trouble convincing the voters.
|
| 181.31 | Stockholm Water Festival - very crowded, very best | TLE::SAVAGE | | Mon Aug 01 1994 10:52 | 50 |
| Re: .14 & .15:
From: Torkel Franzen <[email protected]>
To: International Swedish Interest discussion list
<SWEDE-L%[email protected]>
Actually the festival has so far (since it began, I think three years
ago) been a fairly successful family event. But the "hordes of people
milling about" is no exaggeration: a large number of people from out of
town are attracted to the festival, and getting through the part of
town where it is held can be time-consuming. The fireworks competion in
particular attracts enormous crowds, and three years ago there were
half a million people crowding the streets at midnight, which is a most
unusual occurrence in Stockholm.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Jill L. Rhoads" <[email protected]>
Organization: The American University
To: International Swedish Interest discussion list
<SWEDE-L%[email protected]>
--Not to mention, the duck race down the middle of Stockholm, the high
diving competition, the kayak competition, the massive amounts of food
from all the best local vendors, the concerts (some of my friends were
in it last year ..some band called "Piraterna") & of course famous
swedish personalities. Last year this was just the best introduction
to downtown Stockholm as one could ever get. Although I must say the
fireworks competition was the best I had ever seen. It made most 4th
of Julys here in the States pale by comparison. It's was just one of
the greatest city festivals I've ever been to in the entire world.
Just my humble opinion though....Jill
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael Palmer <[email protected]>
To: International Swedish Interest discussion list
<SWEDE-L%[email protected]>
I have to agree with Torkel. I have never seen so many people in
Stockholm as there is during the Water Festival (and I have not missed
one since they began three years ago (I think it was three years ago).
Particularly during the fireworks. However I would not miss the Water
Festival if I were in Sweden. It is a fantastic event. Like Jill, I
think that it is one of the more outstanding city festivals that I have
attended anywhere (although I tend to prefer the folk festivals and
particularly the fiddle and dance festivals). Indeed, as Jill said,
the fireworks far surpass anything I have seen on the Fourth of July in
the U.S.
Mike
|
| 181.32 | Spy returns voluntarily | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Aug 04 1994 13:20 | 40 |
| From: [email protected] (Ahrvid Engholm)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: The spy Stig Bergling back in Sweden to serve sentence
Date: 3 Aug 1994 18:39:39 GMT
Organization: Stacken Computer Club, Stockholm, Sweden
The biggest news in Swedish media today is that the spy Stig Bergling
has come back to Sweden out of his free will, to serve his sentence.
Bergling was caught in 1979, with the help of the Israeli security
service, and found guilty of spying for the Soviet Union. He was
sentenced to life in prison.
In 1987 he escaped, with the help of the liberal Swedish permission of
leave rules. Prisoners in Sweden may after a certain time get a day or
two away from the prision. For top security criminals it means that the
leave is guarded. Bergling visited his wife and two officers from the
Swedish security police guarded the door to his appartment house.
However, there was a backdoor to the house and Bergling and his wife
escaped in the middle of the night through this.
He hired a car, took a ferry to Finland, and from there all traces of
him disappeared. It is generally believed that he went to the Soviet
Union (now Russia), who was believed to take care of their old
employee.
Obviously the circumstances that the Russian economy offers, now going
downwards, wasn't too good, and Bergling suffered from this. A
speculation is that life under the present Russian economy is worse
than conditions in Swedish prisons. (The last time Bergling obviously
lived on Cyprys, under Russian surveillance.) This may have caused his
decision to go back. He was in contact with the Swedish security police
about this last Friday.
A Swedish "life in prison" sentence usually means that the sentence
after ca. 10 years is transformed to a time limited sentence. And the
life prisoner is let out after 10-15 years. This will still mean that
Bergling has a few years more to serve.
Bergling is the spy who has caused most damage to Sweden since the
early 60's spy Stig Wennerstroem.
|
| 181.33 | Prominent businessman makes degrading remark | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Sep 15 1994 16:17 | 50 |
| STOCKHOLM, Sept 14 (Reuter) - Swedish liberals urged people
on Wednesday to boycott a high street bank linked to business
tycoon Peter Wallenberg after he used the term ``blackies'' to
describe South African blacks.
Wallenberg, in an hour-long television programme earlier
this week, was asked why he had objected to Sweden's vocal
criticism of the apartheid system in South Africa, abolished
last year.
In his answer, Wallenberg, from Sweden's best-known and most
powerful industry dynasty, used the term ``blackies'' (eds:.
Swedish term, Svartingarna) to describe South African blacks.
``There are a few well-educated blackies'' in South Africa, he
said, adding blacks did not have the competence to run South
Africa without help from the white minority.
``The apartheid system had many faults...but it had a part
that was necessary given the circumstances at the time,'' he
added.
Two television personalities on Wednesday urged Swedish
youth to boycott the large high street bank of which Wallenberg
is vice chairman, S-E Banken.
``I don't want to have my money in a bank that is dominated
by a person with such racist views,'' said Cissi Elwin, one of
two former hosts of a television programme for young people.
The Chairman of Sweden's Liberal Youth Association, Fredrik
Malmberg, said he would also change banks.
``Peter Wallenberg's statement on 'blackies' stinks of
racism,'' he said.
The left of centre daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter, Sweden's
biggest-selling broadsheet, said in a leading article that
Wallenberg's comments were degrading.
``'Blackies' is an expression that has probably not been
heard for a long time in public Swedish society. It is revealing
and depressing that one of the country's most powerful
businessmen, speaking about the abolished apartheid policy, can
use such a degrading word,'' the daily wrote.
The Wallenberg dynasty, with Peter Wallenberg at its head,
has a dominant interest in many leading Swedish companies.
Wallenberg, 64, is chairman or vice-chairman of
telecommunications giant Ericsson, S-E Banken, engineering
concern Asea, compressor- and tool-maker Atlas Copco and vehicle
group Saab-Scania's parent company Investor AB.
The Wallenberg family has frequently been at the centre of
controversy. During World War Two the family traded actively
with Nazi Germany.
A relation of Peter, Raoul Wallenberg, disappeared in
Budapest in 1945 after helping to save the lives of thousands of
Hungarian Jews by issuing them with Swedish passports.
Soviet authorities said he died in a Moscow prison in 1947
but the issue has been a constant thorn in the side of relations
between Moscow and Stockholm.
|
| 181.34 | Politics, culture, religion, and Russian subs | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Mar 01 1995 16:07 | 128 |
| To: International Swedish Interest discussion list
From: "SPYDR-C4I International, Inc." <[email protected]>
Sweden in 1995
--------------
I went back to Stockholm for two weeks to see my family. I thoroughly
enjoyed my stay, taking in some wonderful concerts (Peter Jablonsky,
Mikael Samuelsson, and the Stockholm Chamber Orchestra), and spending
lots of quality time with friends and family. My brother took two weeks
off while I was home (which gives him three weeks left for later), so I
had precious company the entire time.
It was interesting to see the change in the political climate compared
to a year ago. If the right-wing coalition went overboard with
arrogance, talking about "the only way", and they lost the election
largely because of it. Now, the Social Democrats are flagging a return
to "the good old days", relying on the Green Party and the Party of the
Left to pass their program.
You doctors out there may find it interesting that the Social Democrats
want to gradually eliminate private health care. My friends who have
worked extremely hard for four years building a successful clinic are
beside themselves. They treat their patients at one-third the average
cost on the public side and have a higher success rate, but if they
can't get an excemption within the next three to four years, they will
have to close down (assuming the current government lasts).
Minks or Subs
-------------
The whole issue of subs in the archipelago seems to have been reduced
to (1) a personal war between current prime minister Ingvar Carlsson
and former prime minister Carl Bildt, and (2) a war between Social
Democratic evening newspaper Aftonbladet and right-wing daily paper
SvD.
Working-class Ingvar Carlsson does not get along with aristocrat Carl
Bildt -- it is fairly typical given their backgrounds -- and
Aftonbladet and SvD will never agree on anything. Hr Bildt is
criticized for a letter he wrote, but can't defend himself since the
letter is classified.
Besides, it now seems clear that, whatever was picked up by sonars, it
wasn't minks. Someone in the Navy said (as an example) that they have
recordings of minks that are easy to confuse with subs. On these
particular occasions, however, there would have to have been lots of
minks *on the surface*, and none were ever sighted.
The Russians apparently don't demand an apology (perhaps because some
of the "minks" were actually subs after all), so what's left seems to
be mostly internal bickering. Oh well...
Folk Dancing
------------
I was born and raised in Stockholm, but my parents are from J{rvs| and
Sandviken. In their home towns you'd better know your traditional
dances if you want to socialize during the Summer. Weekly dances are
arranged througout the Summer and are extremely popular.
My old High School, Fredrika Bremerskolan in Haninge, southern
Stockholm, teaches folk dancing as part of the curriculum. They also
arrange a Spring Ball, which is extremely popular among students.
Hardly any students know any folk dances going in, but are usually
extremely greatful after having learned. It turns out that even
Stockholmers find folk dancing fun and interesting, once introduced to
it. And, as mentioned before, if you go to rural areas, you might end
up wishing you knew how to invite that pretty girl next to you to a
Hambo.
There is no doubt in my mind that folk dancing is alive and well in
Sweden, and although I can't boast any significant folk dancing skills
at this time, I am greatful for once having learned.
Religion in Sweden
------------------
My mother was ordained a Deacon in the State Curch on the 5th, and I
had some opportunity to look into the issue of religion in Sweden
today. The church is doing fine, and interest in religion is growing
significantly. I think there has been a strong latent religious
interest for quite some time, but many young Swedes have not identified
with the State Church. The current growth is largely due to a more open
and modern approach, more in line with the experience of today's
Swedes.
In Swedish schools, religion is tought as a required class throughout
ES and HS. The curriculum clearly dictates that no religion be favoured
over another (Christianty is given slightly more time, being the State
Religion). As a result, students tend to accept many tenets of foreign
religions (Hinduism and Buddhism are popular) and end up with a
personal mixture of several philosophies.
Part of the new approach of the State Church is to be much more open to
other points of view. Two authors who are held in high regard in
religious circles are Paul Brunton and Peter Nilsson, who both approach
religious issues from traditionally un-Christian points of view (P.B.
can be found under Eastern Religion in your U.S. bookstore, and Peter
Nilsson is an Uppsala scientist who combines history, philosophy, and
modern physics; I highly recommend both).
One exciting project in the Swedish Church is called Livscentrum
(Center of Life); an attempt to extend the Church into the industrial
world. Livscentrum is working with companies such as Volvo and
Eriksson, where spiritual guidance and support is offered to people in
the workplace. This is indicative of new efforts to meet people on
their terms, in their environment. It widens the scope of the church,
compared to its traditional role. It also forces clergy to ask
themselves what their fundamental beliefs are, to identify the core of
Christianity, void of the usual ritual structure.
May I also add that most of the choirs in Sweden (we have half a
million choral singers) are somehow tied to the church. It is a
symbiotic relationship, where the church usually provides a place for
rehearsal, and the choir volunteers for service and some religious
concerts.
===========================================================
Ulf Wiger Phone: (907) 694-2660
VP Engineering Fax: (907) 694-5142
SPYDR-C4I International, Inc. Email: [email protected]
P.O. Box 770674
Eagle River, AK, USA 99577
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Specializing in Disaster Response, Wide-Area Messaging, and
Distributed Real-Time Information Systems.
===========================================================
|
| 181.35 | On the World Wide Web | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Mar 01 1995 16:10 | 13 |
| To: International Swedish Interest discussion list
From: "Arne Eofsson ([email protected])"
I found an excellent place for information about sweden and politics
(probably not unbiased but what information is unbiased) look at:
http://www.infopak.ministry.se/
where you can find "Lengtidsutredningen" about swedens economy.
(not because I believe in any predictions made but it is kinda fun).
arne
|
| 181.36 | 1995, week 12 | TLE::SAVAGE | | Mon Mar 27 1995 14:57 | 46 |
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Dan Stenborg)
Subject: News in Sweden week 12
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: ICL Data AB
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 1995 13:47:09 GMT
This a very short and personal selection of some news for this week in
Sweden. Pleas feel free to add to this list. Comments and correctios
are all very welcome.
1. Bosnian refugees with Croatian passports to be expelled ? Bosnian
refugees in Sweden with Croat passports were supposed to be expelled
this week, since Croatia is said to have declared to be a safe place
to receive people in, which all goes back to a secret letter sent from
Croatia to immigration minister Leif Blomkvist.
Many churches, voluntary refugee aid workers and refugees are
protesting against this. In V�xjo the bishop is supporting people
that are hiding bosnian families from the swedish police.
2. Last year figures are coming... last year Swedish GNP rose by 3
percent - the first time for 3 years with a positive figure.
3. Spring is clearly coming (atchooo). This year will probably be a
difficult year for pollen allergic persons, however not as difficult as
the spring 93. Note the change of time, this sunday 26/3 we will switch
to summer time, thus setting forward our watches 1 hour, thus rising 1
hour earlier on sunday morning.
4. Construction company BPAs ex manager L�vgren suspected for crime by
BPAs present board. The case is handed over to the court. This is only
one draw in a long battle where L�vgren's granted golden 'parachute'
has made 2 persons to resign. One of them being Stig Malm. BPA now
states that this parachute contract will not be honoured.
5. Mass Culture
No 1 movie this week: by visitors 'Vendetta' a movie from Jan Guillou's
book
No 1 movie by critics. Short cuts.(US)
No 1 record by sales LP/CD Glenmark/Eriksson/Str�mstedt; No 2 Bruce
Springsteen; No 3 Just D (swedish commercial rap)
|
| 181.37 | A Web page with news from and about Sweden | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Apr 27 1995 13:43 | 22 |
| From: Magnus Stensmo <[email protected]>
To: International Swedish Interest discussion list
Subj: Swedish news
In a recent fit of procrastination I made a web page with news from
and about Sweden. Perhaps some other expatriates (or not) may find it
useful as well. Here it is:
http://salk.edu/~magnus/svnytt.html
Note that you need a WWW reader, usually Netscape or Mosaic, to be
able to access this.
Best wishes,
Magnus
--
Magnus Stensmo [email protected] http://salk.edu/~magnus/
The Salk Institute, CNL, 10010 N Torrey Pines Rd, La Jolla, CA 92037,
USA
Phone (619) 453-4100 x1455 Fax (619) 587-0417 Home (619) 622-9642
|
| 181.38 | From the courtrooms of Denmark and Sweden | TLE::SAVAGE | | Mon Jun 26 1995 13:25 | 31 |
| From: Peter Ravn Rasmussen <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Courtroom update
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 95 14:43:08 PDT
Organization: Berlingske
A few court cases of more than common interest were decided today:
First, the "rigsretssag" (state tribunal?) case against former Danish
Justice Minister Erik Ninn-Hansen for malfeasance in office, to wit:
the willful failure to uphold the legally ensured rights of Tamil
immigrants to have their families brought into Denmark, and the
subsequent attempts to deceive the Folketing (the Danish Parliament).
The verdict was guilty as charged, and Erik Ninn-Hansen was sentenced
to 4 months in jail, the verdict suspended for a year. The justices of
the court were divided 15 to 5 over whether to convict. This was the
first "rigsret" in 85 years, and the case had been under way for
several years. As a direct result of the early stages of the case, the
previous Danish government (under P.M. Poul Schl�ter) fell.
Second, the case against Swedish "sex tourist" Bent Bolin, for having
sex with a thai boy (then 14 - a minor under swedish law), while
visting Pattaya in Thailand, in 1993. Bolin was charged under a law
that allows swedish citizens to be tried in Sweden for breaking a
Swedish law in another country (a law that has been widely debated
here on s.c.n.). The verdict was guilty as charged, and Bolin was
sentenced to 3 months in jail.
Just a little update from the courtrooms of Denmark and Sweden...
Peter Ravn Rasmussen
|
| 181.39 | Re: .3,.21,.24: allemansr�tten | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Sep 20 1995 15:42 | 44 |
| From: [email protected] (PC J�rgensen)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Berries in Sweden And Norway
Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 03:43:26 +0200
Organization: UiO
I'll translate from the _Store Norske Leksikon_. Always good to have a
dictionary around!
_berry picking_ (legal term). On uncultivated land [my translation of
the Norw. legal tern _utmark_ -- as opposed to _innmark_] one may pick
wild berries, mushrooms and flowers to be eaten on the spot, taken home
or sold. In Nordland, Troms and Finnmark [counties -- _fylker_],
however, the owner may forbid picking of _multer_ [cloudberries, if I
remember correctly]; even if not forbidden it is not allowed to pick
cloudberries not meant for consumption on the spot. On unparcelled
Government land in Finnmark the right to pick cloudberries and take
them away is as a main rule reserved the citizens of that county. Wild
nuts can be picked on uncultivated land everywhere in Norway, but must
be consumed on the spot.
[Just in case; we do not have whole companies of nut protecting forest
rangers searching the woods for wild nut hoarders.... :-)]
The _allemannsretten_, by the way, both in Sweden and Norway is a
cultural thing, originally (_sedvanerett_ in Norwegian), but has also
found its way into our laws. Most important is the right-of-way and
free travel rulings for uncultivated land, which limits the landowner's
possibility of crying 'trespassing!'. In the 1959 revision of the
_Friluftsloven_, however, it was felt necessary to consider more the
landowners' right to privacy and lack of potential monetary loss. This
because of modern tourism. Or so the _Store Norske Leksikon_ tells me.
The right-of-way is still powerfull, though. No way of getting away
with declaring acres and acres of privately owned wilderness a 'park'
and threatening passers-by with prosecution....
Well, the _allemannsretten_ works for us, but, of course, sometimes
people interpret their rights and our laws differently.
-- Per C.
University of Oslo
Norway
|
| 181.40 | Stockholm buses run on methanol distilled from wine | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Sep 21 1995 17:09 | 38 |
| From: [email protected] (Roland Johansson)
To: "International Swedish Interest discussion list"
>
>I heard in one of Paul Harvey's radio commentaries that Sweden had
>switched to using ethanol in their buses (or was it trucks?) instead of
>diesel. He also said that, for some reason that I can't remember now,
>they are now using cheap red wine imported from Spain as fuel.
>
>Could someone verify this, or has Paul Harvey been led astray?
Not entirely true, and not entirely wrong...
The Greater Stockholm transport company - SL which is owned by
"Landstinget" - the county council, has for environmental reasons some
ethanol driven buses running in the inner city of Stockholm. The
production of motor alcohol in Sweden is still on experimental level,
however, and can't fill the need of a full scale traffic on ethanol in
Stockholm. The cheapest way to cover some of the need is for them to
buy very cheap, second class wine from Spain, which as Sweden, are
members of the European Union, and therefore part of the transaction
can be sponsored by EU money. There are subsidiaries to cover up for
overproduction of wine in the wine producing countries of the EU. The
wine is to be distilled and the ethanol used for the buses.
Not all buses are running on ethanol in Sweden, and not even all buses
in Stockholm, but the plan is to have more of them in the inner city.
/Roland
============================================================
Roland Johansson Mail: [email protected]
c/o Falkner Web: http://www.bahnhof.se/~floyd/
Saetra torg 12 Phone: +46-8-88 56 11
S-127 38 Skaerholmen
Sweden
============================================================
|
| 181.41 | This week...big snows | TLE::SAVAGE | | Fri Nov 17 1995 10:38 | 17 |
| To: List for those interested in things Swedish
From: Susan Larsson <[email protected]>
Hans Granqvist wrote:
>...Tonight there has been a tremendous blizzard in south west Sweden.
>No buses. No trains. No planes. No roads. Nothing. Over 70 000 homes
>without electricity. And the weather's moving towards Stockholm
>tonight...
I checked out Goteborgsposten,
http://www.gp.westnet.se/dagl/fre/GP01.HTM#art1
This is the worst storm in 30 years, 70000 people without power, E6
shut down, they even cancelled all planned surgeries at the hospitals!
|
| 181.42 | Faxed from Sweden | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Dec 13 1995 11:05 | 363 |
| Subject: Faxed from Sweden no 4
http://www.si.se/newsfax.html
No 4, 24 November 1995
--------------------
The Swedish Agenda
25 November Conference on racism organised by Civil Affairs
Department and Youth Against Racism, Sundsvall
6-8 December International Information Technology Fair, Stockholm
9 December Refurbished Stockholm Opera House opens with Verdi's
'Requiem'
10 December Nobel Prize awards and banquet, Stockholm city hall
13 December St Lucia festival of light
23 December Queen Silvia's birthday
Nuclear industry debate intensifies as doubts surround phase-out
timetable
PRESSURE is mounting on the government to declare whether it intends
to observe a 15-year-old commitment to decommission Sweden's nuclear
power industry amid strident calls from leading industrialists and
opposition politicians to abandon the phase- out plan.
Atomic energy supplies half of Sweden's power needs, the other half
being provided by hydroelectric power. But following a referendum
held in 1980 the country's four nuclear plants, which house a total
of 12 reactors, are due to be shut down by 2010.
Uncertainty over how nuclear power can be replaced has led
increasing numbers of the ruling Social Democratic Party, as well as
many opposition politicians, to question whether a phase-out is
feasible within 15 years.
The ranks of doubters have been joined in recent weeks by a
procession of leading businessmen, who claim the estimated 100bn SEK
minimum price of decommission, which reflects the cost of building
new stations using alternative fuels, is unaffordable in the light
of Sweden's currently precarious state finances.
Maria Leissner, the Liberal Party leader, said environmental
considerations as well as the importance to Swedish industry of
competitively priced electricity meant the 2010 date could not hold.
"The decision in the referendum was that...no new reactors would be
built and I respect that. But parliament's decision to restrict the
decommissioning period to 2010 is no longer realistic," she said.
The comments mirrored growing concern that construction of new power
stations fired by natural gas, oil or coal would not only drain the
public purse but would breach Sweden's international environmental
commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Leissner's comments aligned her party with the opposition Moderates,
who want to develop nuclear power further, and the energy minister,
J=F6rgen Andersson, who has warned that the 2010 cut-off leaves
insufficient time to develop alternative energy sources.
Prime minister Ingvar Carlsson has said he feels morally bound by
the 1980 referendum but has raised the prospect of a new referendum
to clarify the matter. His comments that a swift initiation of
decommission would require an expansion of hydroelectric power have
drawn bitter protests from environmentalists.
Birger Schlaug, leader of the Green Party on which Carlsson's
minority Social Democrat administration periodically relies for
parliamentary support, said: "The Greens would consider breaking off
all its constructive co-operation with the government if the
proposals for extending hydroelectric power become reality."
Expanding the hydroelectric sector would mean building more dams on
the major rivers in the arctic north of the country. Attempts to do
so would be strewn with legal obstacles, not to mention the prospect
of social dislocation and loss of biodiversity in the region, seen
as Europe's last great area of wilderness.
Environmentalists argue that small-scale power generation based on
bio-fuels, solar and wind energy is the way forward. But investment
in these has been hampered by lack of resources and the sector could
not provide a realistic alternative to atomic power, even in the
medium-term.
Opinion polls indicate a majority of Swedes oppose nuclear power.
Memories remain vivid of the widespread contamination suffered from
radioactive fallout following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
Yet many question the wisdom of abolition when no immediate options
exist. For large industries, which for years have gained competitive
advantage from the low cost of electricity in Sweden, nuclear power
remains sacrosanct.
Jan Ekberg, chairman of the Swedish-American pharmaceuticals giant
Pharmacia & Upjohn, said atomic plants should be developed rather
than scrapped. "One should take care of the expertise that has been
built up within this country at a high price," he said.
Bert-Olof Svanholm, chairman of car maker Volvo, called
decommissioning "crazy", explaining that the cost of constructing
new-source energy plants would be prohibitive.
With increasing numbers of younger MPs now questioning whether they
are bound by decisions taken before they entered politics, a shaky
consensus seems to be developing round a wait-and-see approach.
The Social Democrats are deeply split on the issue but could be
forced to declare their hand by the green-inclined Centre Party,
with whom they have an unofficial parliamentary pact. Centre leader
Olof Johansson has repeatedly urged swift progress towards a
phase-out and looks increasingly likely to demand this as a price
for future support.
Government opens route to greater EU transparency
SWEDEN is seeking to spur the sluggish pace of European Union
progress towards greater openness by launching proposals aimed at
radically expanding public scrutiny of union documents and
institutions.
Justice department officials are preparing a blueprint, modelled on
Sweden's own-far reaching freedom of information legislation, which
will be debated at next year's EU inter-governmental conference.
The measures would allow all EU citizens to view in principle any
union document and scrutinise deliberations of the Council of
Ministers and European Commission.
Instances where information could be withheld would be strictly
defined, with each case considered on merit. This contrasts with
current EU practice of imposing blanket restrictions on documents.
Together with similar proposals from Denmark and Finland, the plan
is the biggest attempt by member states to relax union secrecy.
Sweden's justice minister, Laila Freivalds, expects opposition to
the plan from some countries but is optimistic of success. "The
general attitude within the EU is favourable towards increased
openness and scrutiny," she said.
Saab skids into red: doubts grow over company's future
Clouds are gathering over Saab Automobile's future as a Swedish
company after the troubled car manufacturer suffered a renewed bout
of losses.
The company, jointly owned by Sweden's Wallenberg family and the
American car giant General Motors, posted red quarterly figures for
the 18th time in less than six years.
Despite the return of higher volumes after the industry-wide
downturn of the early 1990s, Saab lost 127m SEK in the first nine
months of 1995, compared to a profit of 284m SEK in the
corresponding period last year.
Speculation is now mounting that the Wallenberg family's investment
arm, Investor, may now seek to offload its holding in the company,
which has cost it 2.5bn SEK in cash injections alone since 1991.
"We are discussing different alternatives to come to terms with the
situation," Investor's chief executive, Claes Dahlb=E4ck, was quoted
as saying by Dagens Industri. He added that talks were being held
with General Motors.
Nato role despite neutrality
A 900-strong battalion of Swedish troops is set to make history when
it joins the Nato-led international peacekeeping effort in Bosnia.
It will be the first time Swedish soldiers have entered a military
operation under Nato rather than United Nations command, marking a
notable departure from the nation's traditional neutrality.
Foreign minister Lena Hjelm-Wall=E9n said she saw no anomaly. "We are
showing that we can work together for peace regardless of the limits
of alliances," she stated.
Bergman 'retires'
Legendary film maker and theatre director Ingmar Bergman has
announced his intention to retire from direction and concentrate on
writing. Aged 78, Bergman told Expressen he wanted to spend more
time at his home on an island in the Baltic Sea, "the only place on
earth where I feel at home".
Defence jobs lost
Bofors, Sweden's biggest defence and weapons company, has issued
redundancy notice to 60 workers at its Karlsborg factory. The firm
blamed forthcoming cuts in the national defence budget.
Newspapers face VAT squeeze
Defying protests and lobbying from the media, the government is to
impose value added tax at 6 per cent on all sales of newspapers and
news magazines. The measure, which comes into force on 1 January
1996, is expected to raise 350m SEK per year.
Snowfall chaos
Southern Sweden ground to a halt as the worst blizzards for a decade
blanketed the region in over half a metre of snow. Five people died
in the storm-like conditions, which shut down schools and public
transport and left tens of thousands without electricity.
Estonia families seek court ruling
Seven relatives of people who died in the Estonia ferry disaster are
suing the government in a bid to force it to salvage the vessel. The
group claims the authorities are liable both under Swedish and
European law to attempt to raise the vessel and retrieve the
victims' bodies.
Home tax raises owners' hackles
Thousands of houseowners have organised demonstrations and compiled
petitions in protest at government plans to increase property tax.
Changes in the way house values are calculated has left homeowners
facing an average rise of 43 per cent, while some with
attractively-situated homes face increases of up to 150 per cent.
Rare species threat
Environmental organisations are warning that rare species like bear,
lynx and wolverine will suffer from government proposals to restrict
compensation to Saami reindeer herders who lose animals to
predators. There are fears that herders will resort to shooting
protected animals unless adequately reimbursed for their losses.
Tennis ace keeps good company
Thomas Enqvist has emerged as the new successor to Swedish tennis
greats Bj=F6rn Borg and Stefan Edberg after becoming the first Swede
to win the Stockholm Open since 1987. The victory cemented the
21-year-old from Trollb=E4cken's eighth place in the world rankings.
Refugee policy condemned
Sweden has been criticised by the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees for closing its doors to asylum- seekers. Lennart
Kotsalainen, the UNHCR's acting head in Sweden, said the number of
refugees allowed into Sweden had declined significantly in recent
years. "Sweden...must not make it more difficult for refugees
fleeing war to seek shelter," he said.
Social Democrats becalmed in leadership vacuum
The ruling Social Democrats remain unable to find a candidate to
succeed party leader Ingvar Carlsson next March following deputy
prime minister Mona Sahlin's resignation due to a financial scandal.
Sahlin's withdrawal opened the field for other heavyweight
contenders but the two key figures, finance minister G=F6ran Persson
and co-ordination minister Jan Nygren, have reiterated their refusal
to run. Both feel the job would intrude on their private lives.
Ingela Thalin, the social affairs minister, and Margot Wallstr�m,
the culture minister, have been touted as alternatives but neither
are seen as commanding the breadth of support necessary to become
leader.
Party secretary Leif Linde raised the prospect of dividing the work
of prime minister and party leader. "If it facilitates things for
those who refer to personal and family reasons...we should discuss
it," he said.
Such a solution indicates that attempts may now be made to persuade
Nygren to reconsider. His candidacy would be greeted with relief by
many in the party perplexed at the failure to find a leader.
Opposition Moderate leader Carl Bildt said the episode was damaging
Sweden's image and showed the party lacked direction. People abroad
could not understand why the Social Democrats had nobody who wanted
to lead them, he told Swedish television.
Nurses hit out at "pay discrimination"
Nurses and physiotherapists have voiced their bitterness with
several years of meagre pay increases by launching a selective
nationwide strike, causing patients to be turned away from hospitals
and operations cancelled.
The dispute highlights deep-rooted discontent among nursing staff at
perceived growing pay differentials with other groups. The average
wage in the profession is 14,500 SEK a month.
Buoyed by wide public sympathy, the nursing union SHSTF is demanding
a hefty 35 per cent pay increase phased over three years - an extra
5,000 SEK a month for a full-time nurse.
Employers have offered 0.8 per cent above other municipal and county
council workers, but the sum falls far short of nurses' demands. "We
have had enough of being told that it is 'not the right time' for
pay rises. It is now or never," SHSTF leader Eva Fernvall said.
Six hour day to reduce unemployment?
Prospects for cutting the working day to six hours from the current
eight have grown following a report from the white-collar trade
union confederation TCO suggesting that the move would radically
reduce unemployment and relieve pressure on state finances.
The report suggested that up to 200,000 new jobs could be created if
the current 40-hour working week was shortened to 38 hours, reducing
the state's expenditure on unemployment benefit by 19bn SEK.
Prepared in conjunction with the state economic research institute,
Konjunkturinstitutet, the TCO paper said unemployment in Sweden was
in danger of becoming entrenched and urgent measures were needed to
help people return to work.
Employment minister Anders Sundstr=F6m seized on the findings, saying
he was in principle positive to the idea. "In time I have great
hopes for a shorter working day," he said. However he warned that
people would have to accept lower incomes in return for more leisure
time.
Critics argue that there is no proof the measure would produce new
jobs as employers might seek productivity increases rather than
incur the heavy cost of hiring new staff.
"There is no scientific proof, in Sweden or internationally, that
shorter working hours tackle unemployment," said Jan Herin, chief
economist at the Confederation of Swedish Employers.
He dismissed the TCO findings as a threat to employment because the
measures would lower people's incomes, dampening consumption and
growth.
Reducing hours of work has been a recurrent demand from trade unions
for 15 years and but has consistently failed to capture the public
imagination. Yet against the background of a stagnant 12 per cent
unemployment rate, the idea is now gaining popularity as a
palliative.
The opposition Green Party and Left Party, which together won more
than 30 per cent of the vote in recent European Parliament
elections, favour more flexible working practices and reduced hours
to bring down unemployment.
They point out that tens of thousands of jobs could be created by
reducing the amount of overtime worked and want legislation to limit
excess hours.
TCO chairwoman Inger Ohlsson acknowledged there were difficulties in
implementing a nationwide commitment to a shorter working day but
urged acceptance for the general principle.
"There are today no certainties about reduced working hours. I am
still unsure how a reduction would be effected, but the question is
too interesting just to be cast aside," she said. "This is about
finding the right methods and the right opportunity to reduce
unemployment. I believe the opportunity is here."
Publisher: The Swedish Institute, Lars Romert
|
| 181.21 | Allemansret | TLE::SAVAGE | | Thu Jun 06 1996 13:50 | 10 |
| Re: .3:
>Another feature is the "allemansr{tt" or everybody's right to walk off
>into the forest, regardless of who is the owner of the land, as long
>as you don't intrude on somebody's living grounds, disturb animals or
>destroy vegetation.
Certain replies dealing exclusively with this topic, namely: 21, .24,
and .39 have been removed to the "Everyone's right of access" topic,
note 506.
|