SUMMARY IN ENGLISH
CONTRA # 1 2007
The new Putin dictatorship
by Tommy Hansson
When communism ceased to be the government ideology in the Soviet Union
in 1991 people around the world hoped that the new Russia would develop
into a democracy. During the last years of the Soviet Union Michail Gorbachov
had made the ”concrete communism” a little bit softer. And
yes, the post-communist Russia is more democratic than Soviet Russia ever
was. But corruption and crime have emerged and recent events show that
a new dictatorship, prepared to use mafia methods, is a possibility, and
it is already established in some respects.
Media leftism still rules
by C G Holm
If you read a foreign newspaper or see the news on a foreign newschannel
you certainly will be bewildered when you compare it to Swedish media.
Is Sweden located on some far away planet? For a long time minor journals
like Contra or subscription to major international news magazines like
The Economist or Der Spiegel were the only ways for a Swede to get in
touch with the world. After the growth of internet and satellite television
this is not any more the case. You can get a fair and balanced view of
the world, even if you live in Sweden. But if you turn to Swedish media
you get a distorted view. Studies on the political affiliations of journalists
show that two thirds are leftists, most of them sympathising with the
small extremist parties to the left of the former government party, the
Social Democrats, i e the Communist and the Green parties.
Sowell is crushing the myths regarding blacks
by Fredrik Runebert
Thomas Sowell is professor in economics at the Hoover Institution at
Stanford University. He is well-known for his research on minorities and
is not only familiar with economics but also with political science. In
addition to his scientific merits he is an active writer and columnist
on http://www.townhall.com He is also well-known as a controversional
speaker and writer. Recently he wrote a book challenging our views on
slavery, on German history and anti-semitism. He also rejects a number
of myths on what should be done to improve the position of blacks in America.
400 years since the first British settlement in the USA
by Allan C. Brownfeld
During 2007 the United States will celebrate an important anniversary:
It was 400 years since the first British settlement in Jamestown, Virginia.
The celebrations started already in May 2006 when a copy of Godspeed,
the ship that transported the first settlers to Jamestown in 1607, viisted
six harbors on the US East Coast in order to generate interest for this
years celebrations.
Kuklinski supplied CIA with secrets from the East
by Tommy Hansson
Among the not very well-known heroes of the Cold War the Polish officer
Ryszard Kuklinski should be noted. During the ten years 1971-81 he gave
the CIA a number of secret Soviet documents. Kuklinski had to pay a high
price in order to serve freedom.
Fredrick Federley – chairman of Young Centrists and friend of Israel
Fredrick Federley, chairman of Young Centrists (affiliated to the Centre
Party, one of the four parties in the present centre-right coalition government
in Sweden), recently made a speech at the Sweden Israel Society: Every
time is marked by a spirit. In the beginning of the 20th century the spirit
was racial biology which later turned into the Holocaust. But who dares
to oppose the spirit of the time? We will, however, be judged by our deeds,
as people have been done during all ages.
The euro at eight
by C G Holm
The Swedish electorate said no to the euro in the Sptember 2003 plebiscite.
56.1 per cent voted No. Later opinion polls have shown smalla changes
in the views of the electorate. Today we can see what happened in the
countries that joined the euro zone. A comparison between the euro and
the non-euro countries of Europe (excluding the former Communist countries)
shows a significant advantage in economic development for the non-euro
countries.
The tragedy of the Shah – and of Iran
by Arvin Khoshnood
In 1979 Iran was hit by turmoil in an islamist/communist revolution.
Iran was transformed into a fundamnetalist islamist state, controlled
by ayatollah Khomeini. Iran and the world turned into a ”dark age”
with murder, terror, threat and fear. Before the revolution Iran had been
governed by shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who turned the country into the
road towards industralism, modernism and – most important –
democracy.
