The Swedish schools lag behind
by Sven Enberg

The international ”PISA” (Programme for International Student Assessment) studies on performance of education systems always show South Korea and Finland in the top and Sweden lagging far behind. In comparing with our neighbours only ex-Soviet states Latvia and Lithuania (as well as Russia itself) falls behind Sweden. Estonia, all Nordic countries, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands beat Sweden with a significant margin.

Peak Whale or Peak Oil
by C G Holm

Oil is a limited resource and thus you should use ”renewable sources of energy”, it is said by the politiclaly correct green trolls. It is true that uranium is not renewable. But if we don’t use it, Mother Nature will take all energy away the natural way in a couple of billion years, thus not accepted as renewable by fans of renewable energy. In that time span mankind will be gone anyway. Oil is rationed through market prices and will never run out. During the times since the Titusville find in 1859 alarmists have always declared that oil will run out, but it has not. Reserves have increased. The only real threat against oil resources was when whale hunting threatened to make whales extinct, threatening the supply of whale oil which was used for lightening. However, after Titusville whale oil was replaced by kerosene and ”Peak Whale” didn’t hurt the economy.

Geopolitics is back
by Bertil Häggman

How are history, nations and conflicts between nations affected by matters like population growth, geography, energy supplies, international trade and so forth. This is all discussed within geopolitics, a term framed by Swede Rudolf Kjellén in the early 19th century. After falling into disrespect during World War II geopolitics is now a living science again. Bertil Häggman has written a book on it.

Pushing the button
by Fredrik Runebert

Former conservative member of Parliament Anne-Marie Pålsson (an economics teacher at the University of Lund) left after having found out that all that was expected by her in Parliament was pushing the right button when votes were held. According to the constitution she was elected by the people and repsonsible to the people. But in the multi-member constituencies and the proportional election system of Sweden she felt that she was subdued to party discipline and her bosses were party chiefs not the people.

Freedom of religion
by Tommy Hansson

In the 17th century freedom of religion was not to think of in Sweden. Contra contributor Tommy Hansson has written a book on the mayor of his hometown Södertälje, Zacharias Anthelius, who was beheaded because in secret he had left the Lutheran faith.

Photo Opp at the Russian Embassy
by Ann-Mari Lahti

Civil rights group Swedish Memorial regularly arrange meetings at the Russian Embassy, protesting against the Putin regime and its disrespect of democratic rights. The last meeting turned out to a photo duel with Embassy staff taking pictures of the protesters and vice versa.

Room for a Conservative Party?
by Britt Louise Körninger

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt may be opening up for the creation of a new conservative party. Recently he fired the general secretary of his Moderate Party and hired a man known to lack spine and conservative instincts. Reinfeldts remodelling of the Moderate Party into a quasi Social Democratic party likely opens the space for a morally conservative party.

Free speech and leftist christians

Ola Mårtensson thinks it is difficult for those not supporting Social Democratic ideas to promote their views within the Church of Sweden. Even criticizing the fact that the Church of Sweden has hired an imam is not accepted within the establsihment of the Church of Sweden.

Terrorist trial in Copenhagen
by C G Holm

In two of the neighbouring capitals of Sweden major terrorist trials are held between April and June. The Anders Behring Breivik trial in Oslo and the Mounir Dhahri, Munir Awad, Sahbi Zalouti and Omar Abdalla trial in Copenhagen. The coverage of the Breivik trial is extensive, but the Copenhagen trial is hardly mentioned in media. Actually there are very close parallells, both parties had one objective, to kill as many innocent people as possible. Breivik succeeded, but the people in Copenhagen (all residing in Stockholm) were captured after having made the morning prayer to Allah for success in their deed planned for that very day (their flat was bugged as were their flats in Stockholm and the car they used to drive to Copenhagen). The plan was to kill as many as possible in the Jyllands-Posten editorial office. Machine guns and ammunition were found in the car and in the flat. Their plans included beheadings and severed heads rolling down the street.

In the service of His Majesty the King
by David Stavenheim

The book ”In the Service of His Majesty the King” describes the actions of Swedish diplomat Curt Juhlin-Dannfelt who was active in Berlin during almost the whole Hitler era (and later transferred to Moscow). He was more or less directly reporting to the King, Gustavus V.