Hunting the hunters, by C G Holm
Politicians want to show resolve against terrorism and crime and hunt hunters, sports shots and legal weapons. Which are almost never used in crime. At the same time illegal weapons are pouring into the country, most of them from the Balkans. One of the key channels for smugglers is the Swedish Post Office, 60 per cent owned by the Swedish government.
Hunger strike as a weapon,
by Britt-Louise Hoberg Karlsson
In the wave of immigrants coming to Europe during the past years there are policial campaigns, terror, suicide attacks and hunger strikes in order to achieve political goals.
The venomous spider hitting at Communists in the East
The venomous tarantella spider was inspiration for a satirical magazine Tarantel, distributed in East Germany during the Cold War. The circulation sometimes reached 250 000 copies. The magazine was distributed at Metro exits (the Metro was a joint East and West undertaking) and at the passages between East and West, which were free for passage until August 1961. After construction of the Berlin Wall the magazine had to close down in 1962.
Immigration and crime
Several opposition parties and media in the beginning of the year asked for a new study on immigration and crime. The latest study by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention was published in 2005. And since then Sweden has had 1,237,069 new immigrants and the ethnical composition of immigrants has changed significantly. But the Attorney General declared that there was no interest from the government in making a new study. Nothing is likely to have changed, the AG said. Contra takes him at his words and republish the Contra article on the 2005 report.
Kurdish women fighting IS,
by Britt-Louise Hoberg Karlsson
The main weapons of Kurdish women fighting the IS: Lipstick, makeup and plaits.
Putin’s double play, by Frank Gordons
The game between Russia, the United States and NATO turns more and more sophisticated. In between Ukraine asks for membership in both the EU and NATO. But Russia tries to get the Ukrainians to accept the annexation of the Crimea, and at the same time say that they will follow the Minsk agreement on the Ukraine, meaning that military means should not be used in the Ukraine. And at the same time the Russians control the ”peoples republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The Russian soap opera: Show, nihilism and evil, by Tommy Hansson
London based author and TV producer Peter Pomorantsev got a deep insight into the Russia of Putin during his years in Russian TV. He has gathered his view in the book Nothing is True and Everything is Possible.
Wait with costly measures until we know if they are needed and let our wealthy grandchildren pay, by C G Holm
Climatophobes want to give extreme powers to supranational authorities, known to be interested to spend trillions against climate change before the end of the century. In spite of the fact that our grandchildren will be richer, have the means and know if something really is needed to be done at that time.