Swedish Press Magazine - Kooking With Karl Blog
Transcription
Swedish Press Magazine - Kooking With Karl Blog
GUNILLA EKBERG AND HOW BUYING SEX BECAME A CRIME IN SWEDEN. www.nordicway.com Sweden in India. MARCH 2009 Vol. 80: 3 $395 Percy Barnevik’s Hand in Hand. Sista Ordet om Karl Oskar. PM40010214 R9409 Now with search engine Great at the BBQ! THE ORIGINAL SWEDISH PRESS APRON BIG and small. BIG & BAGnavy is really very VERY large The BIG bag is a VERY small large 32” xThe 14”BIG x 14” bluea canvas carry-all $ $ 34”x14”x14” navy blue heavy duty canvas carry-all with inside zippered pocket with the three yellow crowns for US 29 or Can 43 (Subscribers pay US$27 $ andCan the $three yellow crowns The small18” bag xis 9” a neat 18”x9”x9” navy blue 41). The Small bagforis 39. a practical x 9” navy blue nylon or carry-on with shoulder strap, zippered pocket and the three yellow crowns for $29. $ $ or Can 22 (subscribers carry-on with the three yellow crowns for US 15 (All subscribers take 10% off these prices). Please add $10 for shipping & handling $14 or Can$21). Shipping & handling $5 per bag. These Original pay US for orders up to $60 (and $12 for orders above $60 and $15 for orders above $100)). Swedish PressPress quality bags areare sturdy, practical recognizable. These Swedish quality bags sturdy, practicaland and always always recognizable. To order simply send a check or your VISA or M/C information to Swedish Press, Box Box 4302, 4302, Blaine, WA 98230, 98231, USA or 1294 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver BC V6H 1B6, 1B6, Canada. Canada. You You can also fax an order to to 604-731-2292 604-731-2292 or or call call 604-731-6381 604-731-6381 or or order order from from www.nordicway.com www.nordicway.com Show off your heritage with this unisex navy blue apron with three large ebroidered golden crowns and a practical pocket for $29 (All subscribers take 10% off) + $10 for shipping & handling. To order simply send a check or your VISA or M/C information to Swedish Press, Box 4302, Blaine, WA 98230, USA or 1294 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver BC V6H 1B6, Canada. You can also fax an order to 604-731-2292 or call 604-7316381 or order from www.nordicway.com Welcome First of all: to North America's only Swedish monthly magazine - in both English and Swedish. Edited and printed in Vancouver on Canada's West Coast, it has brought Swedish and local news to readers all over the continent since 1929. (ISSN 0839-2323) is published monthly by Swedish Press Inc., 270-288 Martin St., Blaine, WA 98230 for $29 per year. Periodical postage paid at Blaine, WA 98230-9998 (No. USPS 005544). US POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Swedish Press, Box 4302, Blaine, WA 98231. OFFICE 1294 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6H 1B6, Canada US MAILING ADDRESS (for subscriptions only): Box 4302, Blaine, WA 98231 WEB SITE www.nordicway.com E-MAIL [email protected] FAX (604) 731-2292 TEL (604) 731-6381 EDITOR Anders Neumueller [email protected] ASSISTANT EDITOR Hamida Neumueller [email protected] CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Göran Rosberg, Mats Thölin, Bengt Eriksson, Sthig Jonasson REPRESENTATIVES Calgary: Carin Pihl (403) 931-0370 Toronto: Claes Holmquist (416) 496-7907 Thunder Bay: Elinor Barr (807) 344-8355 Victoria: Nels Granewall (250) 479-1504 Winnipeg: Ellen Boryen (204) 897-1216 ADVISORY COMMITTEE Björn Bayley, Olof Flodmark, Lars Romert, Paul Horn af Åminne, Ulf Waldén SWEDISH PRESS SOCIETY Bo-Christer Fransson, President, Suzanne Rahmberg, Secretary, George Cook, Treasurer SUBSCRIPTION rates per year, in advance: $29, 2 years $55, 3 years $79, 1 year abroad $49. Subscribe Toll Free at 1-866-882-0088 or on our www.nordicway.com site. We take VISA and M/C. In Sweden PG 248505-0. ADVERTISING rates at www.nordicway.com or phone Anders Neumueller at 604-731-6381 SweMail TRANSLATIONS to English of the Swedish parts of Swedish Press are available free of charge every month if you submit your email address to us or register at www.nordicway.com © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Unsolicited material is welcome, but never the publishers responsibility. Enclose stamped self-addressed envelope for return. Statements and opinions expressed by the writers and claims in the advertising are their own and do not necessarily represent Swedish Press. CANADIAN PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT No. 40010214 (09409) Return Undeliverable CANADIAN addresses to Swedish Press, 1294 West 7th Ave., Vancouver BC V6H 1B6 [email protected] We acknowledge the assistance of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) of the Department of Canadian Heritage toward our Canadian mailing costs. PRINTED IN CANADA Next issue deadline: 20 March 2009 If you are following my virtual trip "Around Swedish America in 365 Days" (at nordicway.com) you know that I am virtually somewhere in Minneapolis right now. In reality I am hard at work in Vancouver getting this issue out to you. I say this because there are still some readers who think that I am actually doing the trip in person. They would be surprised to know that when I wrote about the manhunt for the Mad Trapper of Rat River (on Day 22 of the trip) I was actually doing it from India (-see pages 16-19 and 23). That is the beauty of modern telecommunications - that you can publish a magazine or on the web from absolutely anywhere in the world albeit, in my case, with a few technological problems that were quickly fixed by a more computer-savvy daughter. Right now I am wondering if the virtual tour should make its way back to Vancouver on May 9 for the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Swedish Press. As you can see on page 8, we will celebrate this important jubilee with a commemorative issue and a banquet. We very much hope that you, dear Reader and Supporter, will join our guest of honour, Ingrid Iremark, Sweden's Ambassador to Canada, on this special occasion to pay tribute to Swedish Press. Welcome to the banquet! And if you would like to send a congratulatory note to the paper, please fill in the coupon on page 4. This will be the third time your present editor is participating in a jubilee celebration and in all likelihood this will be the last. So we hope to see you there. We have some great memories from the last two celebrations and this one will be the one to top them all! Most jubilees come and go as a matter of course. A celebration is just a way to remind us of the passing of time. In the Swedish Press March 2009 Over 1600 participants registered to ski either classic or freestyle cross-country skiing at the Mora Vasaloppet in East Central Minnesota on the second Sunday of February. The morning temperature was 15 degrees above zero, which made for a fast track and good conditions. The 80th participant in the 59K ski race to reach the finish line at the 37th annual Vasaloppet was Chip Gerdin of Minnesota and Wyoming. “The conditions were excellent,” he said. The virtual Trip Around Swedish America (below) passed Mora on Day 49. Photo by V. S. Arrowsmith and drawing by Lennart Österlind. case of Swedish Press there would be nothing to celebrate if the publication had not proved itself over and over again and managed to stay alive! There have been over 2 000 Swedish publications in North America through the years. Now there are only 2 left. So a celebration is really in order. Have a nice March! PS. Anders You can read about singer Alice Babs' anniversary on page 30 and purchase her Jubilee Edition CDs with 28 newly discovered and previously unreleased tracks on page 36 (the back cover). 3 80 nour: Guest of Ho d Iremark H. E. Ingri mbassador Sweden’s A to Canada ce Performan by Maestro årtensson Magnus M asion On the Occ y Anniversar of the 80th ess invites Swedish Pr Reader r a e D . u o Y r to a Dinne tre avian Cen in d n a c S e aby) at th uver (Burn co n a V ., St as 6540 Thom 6 pm y May 9 at a d r tu a S on RSVP s Door Prize There have been more than 2000 Swedish papers in North America. 80 Now there are only 2 left. So let’s celebrate the 80th Anniversary of Swedish Press! Please mail to Swedish Press, Box 4302, Blaine, WA 98230 USA. or Swedish Press, 1294 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver BC V6H 1B6, Canada Swedish Press 80th Anniversary Dinner COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE The May issue of Swedish Press will contain a Special Supplement free of advertising, that we are sure you will keep for ever! Be a part of this special issue: ❑ Please include my name ❑ Please reserve . . . . places á $60 ❑ Reserve a table of 10 á $600 ❑ I enclose a cheque ❑ Please debit my Visa or M/C card : as a General Greeting á $30 ❑ I would like to sponsor a half page á $250 ❑ I would like to sponsor a full page á $500 Exiry date: . ./ . . Signature: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......................................................... Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Phone . . . . . . . . . . . ....................... I enclose my Visa or Master Card information ❑ ❑ I enclose a cheque ThisMonth As a major fan of Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander detective series, it was extremely interesting to read in the January Swedish News about the real-life exploits of a pyromaniac who has been keeping the residents of Ystad in fear for the past four years. As the Wallander mysteries are set in Skåne and specifically in Ystad, I wonder if the authorities have considered asking Mankell to allow Wallander to get involved in solving this case? My wife and I always enjoy reading the Swedish Press, relying on your online SweMail translation to understand most of hard copy text printed in Swedish. Eric Bender Kirkland, Quebec Nu har vi förlorat en svensk till, en som jag tror alla grabbar var stolta över specielt på 50-talet. När Ingemar gålva Floyd så jobba jag i koppargruvan i Britannia Beach och då svällde nog bröstet lite grand för nu hade vi en svensk tungviktsmästare. Vilken kille eller kanske jag får säga kålle, han var ju götebogare. Nog har det varit många goda svenska idrottare men men Ingemar är en som man inte glömmer. Sankte Per blir nog glad att ha dig Ingemar Johansson. Karl Sundin Abbotsford Födelsedagar i mars 2009 Kathryn McKay, 16 år Erica Munsterman, 15 år Isabella Allgurén, 5 år Caroline Petcu, 11 år Martin Abrary, 10 år Marley Axelsson 9 år Martin van Laetham, 8 år Jessica Lee, 16 år Madeleine Ericsson, 10 år Karin Andersson, 16 år Beau Asplund, 15 år Hugo Nickoloff, 5 år GRAT TIS! 6 7 12 12 17 18 21 25 28 29 30 30 Kids love to see their name in print. Let us know when your children and grandchildren are celebrating their birthdays so we can include them on our birthdays list - a Swedish Press tradition since the 1940s. Ed. Swedish Press March 2009 On the cover: Archipelago bound boats at the Nybro dock. Photo by Preben Kristensen/Stockholms Visitors Board and courtesy and © ImageBankSweden.se 1 Swedish News: Saab cit loose by General Motors 9 Tennis match behind closed doors 10 In focus: Criminal gangs and their “collection service” 12 Henric Borgström: Penningrullning lönas mer än vård 13 Lent Bun Traditions 16 Sweden In India 17-19, 23 Interview: Gunilla Ekberg on prostitution laws 20 CompanyFile: Percy Barnevik’s Hand In Hand 23 Treats a la Liz and Anders Treiberg in Victoria 27 LastWord: Karl Oskar var inte typisk av J-E Strömbäck 34 Regular Features First of all 3 Skämttecknare 12 Picks 6-7 First page news 9 Glance 10 Focus 12 Swedes in the news 13 Local 14 Tradition 15 Business 22 Sport 25 Treats 27 Landskapsnyheterna 28 SwedenNow 30 Calendar 31 Ads&Info 32 Your article “The Postal I had the opportunity to attend the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce, San Francisco Business Mixer on February 11th. The venue was the wonderful Local Kitchen and Wine Merchant restaurant in the financial district and the guest of honor was Swedish actor Andreas Wilson. He is a talented and attractive actor from Sverige who has starred in Jan Guillou’s Ondskan (Evil), and is currently filming in San Francisco…as well as being an Abercrombie and Fitch model. I spend my time learning Swedish and watching Swedish movies to further my own “själv utbildning”. I read in the Swedish Press’ April 2008 issue an interview with Jan Guillou about his movie. I promptly ordered the movie from NETFLIX and was very moved by the powerful performance by Andreas Wilson. Anyway the restaurant was a lovely wine bar…too lovely!! I arrived early with a friend and sampled MANY wines and by the time Andreas arrived, I’m afraid I wasn’t as eloquent as I would have liked to have been, but he was patient and listened to my “dåliga svenska” and even posed for a photo (above). Darren Roth Vallejo CA History of Sweden” (Jan09) prompts us to share this story with you: In 2008 we set out to locate some of my wife’s relatives & history. We traveled to Borås one evening, stayed at a hotel before setting off to track down her relatives. The next day we set out, even with a GPS, on this adventure. It should have taken us only a very short time to arrive at their address. However, not familiar with how Swedish addresses are determined we soon found ourselves lost. The GPS attempted to get us back on course; however, this stubborn Swede kept going another way. What I am saying we just got lost. The address we were trying to locate was XXXXX Varnum, Hokerum 00000 Sweden. We were attempting to search out “Hokerum.” After well over an hour of being lost we came across two lovely ladies who were out for a walk. We showed them the address, said we were looking for Hokerum. They replied very nicely, you don’t want Hokerum, you want Varnum. As these lovely ladies were attempting to give us directions, a Postal delivery man drove up. One of the ladies asked if he could direct us to where we were going. “OH YES” he said. I deliver to these folk and I am heading that way. Have them follow me and I will get them there, and he did. He was a such a friendly person and a great credit to the postal authority of Sweden. We now tell our friends, this is the first time we have been delivered to a mail box, in a car, directed by a postal delivery man in a foreign country. Richard & Phyllis Brynteson Rockford, IL 5 SwedishPicks Intelligent? Classic Cars Car manufacturers need all the support they can get right now, and that is maybe why Sweden Post produced a series of well-known car models from the 1940s to the 1960s. These were all cult cars that people were passionate about, like the Volkswagen 1200 "Beetle", the Volvo PV 444, the Cadillac Coupé de Ville, the Citroen DS that was fondly called "the toad" in Sweden, the 1966 Mustang and the all-Swedish favorite, the Volvo Amazon (above). No Saab in the series? Breaking the Stigma Mental illnesses can affect persons of any age, race, religion, or income. They cannot be overcome through "will power" and are not related to a person's "character" or intelligence. But because of the stigma, people often conceal symptoms and fail to seek treatment. It takes real courage from someone like hockey player Daniel Alfredsson (above) to speak out. He is one of the most valuable hockey players in the NHL and now he is part of a campaign by the Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health to combat the stigma. Mental illness is an issue that has affected him personally as his sister, Cecilia has struggled with generalized anxiety disorder for the past eight-years. Verkligen?! Äntligen har det svenska skatteverket – av momsskäl – bestämt vad livsmedel är för något: “Som livsmedel anses alla ämnen eller produkter som är avsedda att ätas eller rimligen kan förväntas ätas av människor.” Alltså om det som man köper i mataffären uppfyller denna definition gäller 12% moms, om det å andra sidan inte “rimligen kan förväntas ätas av människor” är momssatsen 25%. Tryggt att veta. Sthig Jonasson 6 Stockholm has been chosen as one of the Top Seven Communities of 2009 by The Intelligent Community Forum, ICF. The other communities on the list are Bristol, Virginia; Fredericton and Moncton, New Brunswick; Eindhoven, Netherlands; Issy-les-Moulineaux, France and Tallinn, Estonia. One of these will be picked as the Intelligent Community of the Year on May 15 to replace Gangnam District of Seoul, South Korea. “In the mid-90s, Stockholm, the economic and political capital of Sweden, established a company called Stokab to build an openaccess fiber network. Today, the 4 500 km network connects more than 90 competing service providers to government and business customers. Though the city already has a 98% broadband penetration rate, Stokab will also provide FTTP access to over 95 000 low-income households in public housing by the end of 2009” writes ICF in its citation. Butiks Svinn En svensk tvåbarnsfamilj betalar 2 500 kronor extra varje år för att butikerna måste kompensera sig för stölder och svinn. Varje dag sker det 55 000 snatterier och stölder i svenska butiker. Det är lika många som polisanmäls under ett års tid. Bara 1% av alla butiksstölder upptäcks. De vanligaste varorna som stjäls inom dagligvaruhandeln är kött, kaffe, batterier, godis och hygienprodukter. Stölderna i svenska butiker har börjat öka. Efter en nedåtgående trend under flera år började de återigen öka 2007. Sverige har störst butikssvinn i Norden och satsar minst på att motverka det. Enligt Svensk Handel uppgår butikernas svinn till drygt 12 miljarder kronor årligen, varav 9 miljarder är från kundstölder och resten interna stölder. Swedish Press March 2009 SvensktPlock Den svenska älgstammen har krympt och det är främst de stora ståtliga tjurarna (nedan) som minskat i antal. Brist på äldre älgtjurar ger i sin tur klena kalvar. Situationen är så allvarlig att både Svenska Jägarförbundet och forskare vid Lantbruksuniversitet slagit larm. En för låg andel tjurar i åldrarna sex till nio år kan bli förödande för älgstammen. Om tjurarna inte når upp till sina bästa år kan det störa kornas brunstbeteende. De tackar nej till unga halvfärdiga tjurar och väntar på de äldre och ståtligare hannarna som de föredrar. Följden blir att de betäcks allt senare på säsongen, kanske först vid andra eller tredje brunsten. Följaktligen föds kalvarna allt senare på våren och får sämre vikt eftersom de inte hinner växa till sig under sommaren. Den helt dominerande dödsorsaken bland älg är jakt. Under älgjakten dödas ungefär en tredjedel av alla älgar i Sverige, vilket förra året innebar cirka 80 000 älgar. Så älgtjurarna blir i genomsnitt inte äldre än två till tre år. Men sina bästa år når tjuren biologiskt först efter ytterligare ett par år. Det finns studier som tyder på att unga tjurar inte har lika god spermakvalitet som de äldre och att de får färre kalvar. I dag består den svenska älgstammen av 160 000 till 200 000 djur. Det är en kraftig minskning sedan åttiotalet, då stammen beräknades uppgå till cirka 300 000 älgar. Den nedgången har genomförts avsiktligt, eftersom älg kan orsaka stora skador i både skogen och i trafiken. Swedish Press March 2009 What is Art? While the art world is still discussing whether graffiti is art, Magnugs Nugstafsson got a passing grade for his student project when he graduated from the Konstfack art school in 2008. His two minute long film, Territorial pissing, features a masked graffiti artist splashing masses of paint in front of a crowd of metro passengers. The artist also then breaks a window. The number on the car is also visible, as is the fact that it is stopped at a station, meaning it was in traffic during the recording. Two copies of the vandalism video have been sold for a total of 65 000 kronor. The buyers are a Finnish art gallery and an elderly collector from Norway. A “scientific” essay by the same student contains two pages with the text “bla-bla-bla”. The essay also includes the student’s views toward critics of graffiti: “If it costs society so damn much, screw cleaning it up.” The Stockholm county transit authority SL is now seeking 100 000 kronor in compensation from Konstfack and is also demanding an apology. The film and another project has also sparked outrage from the Minister of Culture, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth. No longer so private ... Some quaint details from the private diaries of King Karl XIII have recently been disclosed in an article in the magazine Populär Historia. Tucked among the ruminations on the duke’s travels, military duties and experiments in alchemy carried out in his own laboratory, there are small illustrations of the male reproductive organ. The sketched penises appear to coincide with sexually productive moments in the duke’s life. For example, accompanying an entry relating to a concert on October 10th 1785 is a sketch of a single penis. After attending an oyster supper later that month with his wife, Hedvig Elisabet Charlotta, Karl XIII has thrown in two. The diary entries are from May to October 1785, a time when Karl XIII was 37 years old and still a duke. He acceded to the throne in 1809 at the age of 60. He died nine years later, having suffered a stroke shortly after becoming king. Tyhe King (above) was talked about as having a whole harem of mistresses, including noblewomen such as Augusta von Fersen and Mariana Koskull and singers and actresses such as Charlotte Eckerman. The leather-bound volume was passed on to school principle Anders Nyström by his mother, who received the book as a gift in the 1950s. It was when he read an article about Karl XIII in Populär Historia that he took a closer look at the diary. 7 A Swedish court has granted automaker Saab's request for protection from creditors while it tries to mount a survival plan. The move comes in the wake of Saab being cut loose by its owner General Motors that, itself facing mountainous debts and an uncertain future, refuses to continue funding Saab's losses. In a plan submitted to the U.S. Treasury, GM said the Swedish company would become an independent business as of January 1, 2010. Earlier GM had warned that Saab would have to file for bankruptcy protection unless it received help from the Swedish government, which in turn flatly refused to step in and rescue the auto maker. GM bought 50 percent of Saab in 1990 and acquired the rest 10 years later. According to some reports it could pump $400 million into Saab if the Swedish government guaranteed loans of $590 million. Many analysts believe such sums would be far too little to turn Saab around, and they question whether the brand has a realistic future. Late last year Sweden said it would provide its vehicle industry with up to 25 billion crowns in aid to help it through the global economic crisis, mainly in the shape of loan guarantees. Besides giving Saab access to these, the Swedish government has emphatically ruled out rescuing the auto-maker in any other way, fearing it will set a precedent. Swedish officials have also repeatedly resisted efforts to nationalize Saab. Instead Industry Minister Maud Olofsson, who has been sharply critical of GM's decision to let Saab go, has suggested that the company’s technological knowhow could be put to use in more in-demand sectors such as wind power. Once renowned for its cutting-edge technology and futuristic designs, Saab has in recent years suffered from an aging product line and plunging sales. In the fourth quarter last year, Saab's sales nosedived 38 percent to just 17 900 cars. The company has registered chronic losses over the past 20 years. It made a loss of SEK 3 billion last year and expects a similar loss this year. Saab employs about 4 100 people in Sweden, 3 700 of whom work in Swedish Press March 2009 SAAB CUT LOOSE BY GM - NOW RESTRUCTURING Trollhättan. Including suppliers, some 15 000 jobs in Sweden are believed to be at risk if the unit disappears. Sweden's two carmakers are a source of pride for its citizens, having helped shape Sweden's image abroad with their focus on safety, family motoring and high engineering standards. The future of Volvo is somewhat secure even though it has been put up for sale by its owner, Ford Motor Co. Saab came to life as part of Svenska Aeroplan, a company founded in 1937 to build military planes. The first Saab cars were built after World War II. Known for quirky vehicles with ignition in the floor and a griffin insignia, Saab became a more conventional brand under G.M. It borrowed the underpinnings from some of Opel’s cars for its lineup, which includes sedans, wagons and a sport utility vehicle. A court approved restructuring in Sweden is similar to bankruptcy protection in the United States. Under Swedish law, the reorganization is a self-managed process headed by an independent administrator appointed by the court who will work closely with Saab's management team to present a proposal to creditors within three weeks of the filing. During this period, Saab said that it will continue to operate "as usual and in accordance with the formal reorganization process, with the government providing some support during this period". The 2008 Saab 9-5 with Saab’s Griffin symbol (inset) A reconstruction usually entails an arrangement through which creditors agree to write off a portion of the company’s debts. The agreement must however be approved by a certain percentage of creditors before coming into force. While a reconstruction takes place, creditors can’t request that company’s assets be seized or that it be put into bankruptcy proceedings. Restructuring will allow parts of Saab to survive and could enable suppliers, who would lose all the money owed them by the company if it filed for bankruptcy, to get some money back by agreeing to accept partial repayment. How this will pan out will depend very much on what kind of agreement the two main players, the Swedish government and GM, can come to and what kind of interest there is in Saab among investors and potential buyers. "Even though we have not been actively searching for new partners, we have had many knocking on our door showing interest in Saab," says Saab CEO Jan Åke Jonsson. "With an all new 9-5, 9-3X and 94X all ready for launch over the next year and a half, Saab has an excellent foundation for strong growth, assuming we can get the funding to complete engineering, tooling and manage launch costs." 9 News at a Glance TENNIS MATCH BEHIND CLOSED DOORS Malmö City Council has decided that the upcoming Davis Cup tennis match between Sweden and Israel will be held behind closed doors. The decision follows a vocal campaign against the match in protest against the situation in the Middle East. "We have made a judgment that this is a high-risk match for our staff, for players and for officials," says the chairman of the sports and recreation committee of Malmö City Council, Bengt Forsberg. The match was scheduled to be played from March 6th at Baltiska Hallen which holds 4 000 spectators. A "Stop the Match" campaign has been underway in Sweden since Israel's offensive in Gaza erupted last December, and thousands of demonstrators were expected to rally outside the Baltiska Hallen during the match. The match between the two countries hit the headlines in January when a prominent Social Democrat in southern Sweden likened Israel to apartheid South Africa and Nazi Germany in calling for a boycott. “Israel is an apartheid state. I think Gaza is comparable to the Warsaw ghetto,” said Ingalill Bjartén, the vice chair of the Social Democratic women’s organization in Skåne. VÅRD BLIR SKULDFÄLLA FÖR BARN En ny lag ska skydda barn från att skuldsättas av sina föräldrar. Men Kronofogden varnar för att tiotusentals minderåriga faller utanför därför att lagförslaget reglerar inte skulder till landstingen för obetalda vårdavgifter. Antalet barn i Kronofogdens register har sjunkit, bland annat efter en tidigare lagändring som gör att barn inte längre kan tvingas betala parkeringsböter. Hos inkassoföretagen låg 63 000 kravärenden gällande barn när kontrollmyndigheten Datainspektionen gjorde ett koll. En stor del av ärendena kom från landstingen och landstingens bolag. Den övervägande andelen fordringar är från offentlig sektor. Det gäller vårdavgifter eller kontrollavgifter i kollektivtrafiken. Inom de flesta landsting är vården gratis för barn, men för uteblivna besök tas avgifter ut av alla. Är vårdtagaren ett barn läggs skulden på barnet om inte föräldrarna betalar. Att skolfoton och bokklubbar kan bli en skuldfälla för barn är känt sedan tidigare. Snart omöjliggörs det genom den nya lagändringen som innebär at föräldrar inte kan handla så att barn sätts i skuld. 10 MINORITY LANGUAGES TO BE PROTECTED The Swedish government has pledged to do more to preserve and promote the country’s official minority languages. Since 2000, Finnish, all Sami dialects, Torne Valley Finnish (meänkieli), Romani, and Yiddish have been given special status as national minority languages in Sweden. In a referral presented to the Council on Legislation, the government proposes a new law for national minorities and their languages, as well as changes to the Sami parliament law and the laws governing social services. Minister for Integration and Gender Equality Nyamko Sabuni wants to ensure that people who want to use Finnish or Sami in their dealings with the five major state agencies the Tax Agency, the Social Insurance Agency, the equality and discrimination ombudsmen, and the Office of the Chancellor of Justice - should have the right to do so and be made aware of that right. She also wants the agencies to make an effort to hire employees who are fluent in the languages while other agencies will be urged to at least have employees who can speak Finnish, Sami, and Torne Valley Finnish. Sabuni also wants to impress upon municipalities to ensure that children of national minorities have a chance to learn and use their own languages. Local authorities also need to do more to inform the minorities about their rights and give them opportunities to participate in the political process. According to Sabuni part of the problem is that municipalities often confuse national minorities with ethnic minorities. While, for example, five children are needed for ethnic minority language instruction to be Ethnic minorities are not part of the proposed national minority language law. Photo and © Bengt af Geijerstan, Bildhuset courtesy ImageBankSweden.se provided, only one child is needed for the same service to be provided when it comes to national minorities. POLICE ACADEMY REPORTS ITSELF The National Police Academy, Polishögskolan, has reported itself to the police after details of a culture of racism at the school have been brought to light. The allegations emerged in an article in Dagens Nyheter featuring a man dubbed "Ahmed" who is a student at the academy. He was born in the Middle East and came to Sweden as an infant. He claims to have never experienced racism of the kind that he endured while at the police academy, maintaining that several teachers deliberately obstructed the education of students with immigrant backgrounds. Last month a video recorded during unrest in the Malmö suburb of Rosengård also provided evidence of the use of racist and abusive language by several police officers. RISKFRI DISKRIMINERING Krogar som misstänks diskriminera vissa etniska grupper blir sällan dömda, eftersom det är svårt att bevisa att någon verkligen utsatts för negativ behandling. Om någon för att säkra bevis filmar händelsen blir själva det faktum att de diskriminerade förutsett diskrimineringen ett argument för lägre skadestånd. Det är innebörden av en dom i Högsta domstolen mot en grupp juridikstuderande som filmat när några av dem nekades att komma in på en krog. Swedish Press March 2009 CHEATERS EXPELLED The number of students expelled from Sweden’s colleges and universities for cheating jumped by nearly 30 percent last year, according to a new study. A total of 398 students were expelled in 2008, compared with 310 in 2007. All of the country’s public colleges and universities as well as three private institutions were included in the study, which was carried out by Sveriges Radio (SR). It is generally believed that universities and colleges have become better at detecting cheating. The use of various computer programmes that reveal copying from the internet has increased. The school where cheating has increased the most is the Royal Institute of Tech-nology (KTH) in Stockholm, which disciplined 32 students last year, up from only nine in 2007. At the other end of the spectrum, the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and the University College of Opera haven’t had a single meeting of their respective discipline committees to investigate a cheating case in more than 10 years. The most common cheating cases involved students copying from the internet without citing the source of the information. But unauthorized collaboration between students, as well as cases involving the oldfashioned method of sneaking notes into the exam room were also discovered last year. SWEDISH STUDENTS SLIPPING Swedish students still perform above average in the majority of international studies conducted over the last 20 years, the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) has concluded. But performance has declined and Swedish students are falling behind. Sweden is above average in reading comprehension in all the surveys. In the natural sciences Sweden had been above average in all the studies until 2007 when it fell below in one of them. In math Swedish students are currently above or average in all studies. More News: First Page News News in Focus Swedes in the News Swedish-American Business News Sport Landskapsnyheterna Swedish Press March 2009 9 12 14 15 22 25 28 The Social Democrats and party leader Mona Sahlin are slipping in the polls NEW LOW FOR SOCIAL DEMOCRATS The opposition Social Democrats now have the lowest level of voter support since the 2006 general election, according to a new poll. 36.7 percent of those polled would vote for the Social Democrats if an election were to be held, which is the party's lowest result since the election in September 2006. However the tripartite opposition still maintains a 7.4 percentage point lead over the Alliance government. Another party losing support is the Christian Democratic Party clocking in at 3.4 percent, which is below the four percent threshold required for representation in parliament. The party is overtaken by the farright Sweden Democrats who have the support of 4.1 percent of the electorate. SWEDES FLEEING POLITICAL PARTIES Political parties in Sweden continue to lose members. Five of the seven parties represented in the Riksdag lost a total of 9 000 members last year. The Moderate Party was the biggest loser with a drop of 6 400 members. The party’s membership has dropped by 20 percent, to 54 858 members, during the last two years. While the Social Democrats also continue to lose members, the rate of attrition has levelled off since 2007 when the party shed 19 000 members. Only 519 more left the party in 2008. The only party to gain members last year was the Green Party whose membership is now at 9 110. The downward spiral in the membership of the traditional political parties started in the early 1990s. Since then, the number of people with a membership in political parties has been cut in half. At the same time, smaller political parties, not currently represented in the Riksdag, have been attracting a growing number of members. The farright Sweden Democrats added 400 members to their lists last year and now have a membership of 3 300. The Pirate Party has also made substantial gains but then all that is required to become a member is the click of a mouse in the party’s homepage. SOLID SUPPORT FOR NUCLEAR POWER According to a new poll, six of ten Swedes are in favour of building new nuclear power plants. A majority of supporters of all four of the centre-right governing Alliance parties, as well as a majority of Social Democratic voters, support the government’s recent reversal of the decades-old policy of phasing out nuclear power in the country. It is only among the supporters of the Green Party and the Left Party that a majority is against building new reactors. The center-right governing Alliance recently revealed its new energy policy reversing an earlier goal of phasing out the country's remaining 10 nuclear reactors by 2010. These reactors provide half of Sweden's electricity. Additionally, under the new plan, the use of fossil fuels as a heating source will be abolished by 2020, and Sweden's entire vehicle fleet will be independent of fossil fuels by 2030. BANK CREDITS TO NAZI GERMANY Swedish finance minister, Ernst Wigforss, approved secret Swedish bank credits to Nazi Germany in 1941, according to documents which were recently uncovered in a filing cabinet at the finance ministry. The loans of 40 million kronor, a large sum of money in those days, served to increase Swedish exports to Nazi Germany which, according to some historians, was of far greater importance than opening the country's borders and train lines for the use of German troop movements, something Wigforss was a renowned opponent of. Ernst Wigforss, who died 30 years ago, retains a revered place in the hearts of many in the Social Democratic party. He was vocal in his criticism of the prime minister and Social Democrat party leader, Per Albin Hansson, for allowing the German Division Engelbrecht transit through Sweden, thereby assisting the Nazi invasion of Norway. The diary of the then head of the Riksbank, Ivar Rooth, indicates that both he and the Swedish foreign office (UD) held strong reservations over the bank credits which would enable Germany to supply less goods to Sweden in return for iron ore and other materials crucial to the war effort. The approval of the bank credits meant that Sweden avoided demands from Germany for direct Swedish state aid and that Swedish boat yards could continue to build vessels for Nazi Germany's navy. The credits were the first breach in Swedish resistance to Nazi Germany's demands and appear to have been given without much coercion. 11 In Focus CRIMINAL GANGS -Va, har du Fahrenheit? -Ja, hurså? -Är inte det en killparfym? -Ja, men jag gillar ju killar. Tyvärr är det inte så ofta jag kommer nära dem, men sä här kan jag lukta på dom hela tiden, -Fast de vill att du ska ha tjejparfym, det attraherar dem. -Varför har de inte på sig det själva då? -Men snälla, då skulle de ju inte ha någon anledning att jaga tjejer! Svenska SKÄMTTECKNARE #145 Kajsa Ekis Ekman är en journalist och bloggare som skriver fantastiska texter som denna som illustrerats av den skickliga grafikern Maja Sten. De representerar en ny generation som arbetar i många olika media. media. The worsening economic times could very well be working to the advantage of Swedish criminals. According to Swedish police, the collection services run by gangs are thriving, and are now often also used by regular businesses. When conventional collection does not produce results, the brutal tactics of the gangs seem to do the trick. Very often the people who are asked to pay up are innocent victims who comply with the demands made by the gangs without contacting the police, preferring instead to just forget about the unpleasant encounter. Despite this, the number of blackmail cases reported to the police has almost tripled, from around 600 cases a year in 1998 to 1,715 cases in 2008. Of the thousands of cases investigated by police only seven have resulted in charges. (And this may be the reason why this crime category has grown substantially more than all others during the last few years). One such successful case involved a construction company, with several projects in Gustavsberg, outside Stockholm, that had been forced into bankruptcy as a result of the economic slow-down. Electricians, painters and other construction workers were left high and dry, without work and without being paid for the work they had done. Enter the Red & White Crew, a subgroup of the Hells Angels, that took on the task of collecting the money owed to the Välkomna till svensk gudstjänst i Vancouver! Söndagen den 26 april kommer Anna Runesson från Svenska kyrkan i Toronto till Vancouver för att fira svensk gudstjänst. Gudstjänsten hålls i Danska kyrkan i Burnaby och börjar klockan 16.00. Om någon önskar dop eller vigsel under besöket är ni välkomna att kontakta Anna. Hör även av er om ni skulle vilja ha hem- eller sjukbesök. Anna Runesson, arb: 416-486-0466; mobil: 905-818-0230. Hemsida för Svenska kyrkan i Toronto: www.svenskakyrkan.ca. För er som vill läsa mer om Svenska kyrkans utlandskyrka (tidigare känt som ”SKUT”) går det bra att titta på sidan http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/ (klicka på ”Samhället och världen” och sedan ”Utlandskyrkan”). Hjärtligt välkomna! construction workers. Just before Christmas, one of the gang members phoned the owners of the company telling them that there was no way they were going to be able to walk away from the outstanding debt, and that they would have to pay up from their personal assets. The three owners of the company contacted the police before arranging a meeting with the gang in central Stockholm. The police stormed in and five gang members, aged between 21 and 26 years, were charged for blackmailing. There are a few other such success stories. The leader of the Gävle chapter of Original Gangsters is presently in custody for a very aggressive attempted blackmail. A 33-yearold probational member of the Bandidos is also in custody for attempted blackmail against the owner of a construction company in Malmö. In Kristianstad a 29-year-old member of Brödraskapet Wolfpack is in custody for blackmailing a gambler whom he dragged into a forest, tied up and assaulted with a knife and shot in the leg. In Upplands-Bro a 25-year-old robber, connected with the Fucked For Life gang, managed to get a young couple to fork out SEK 100 000 by assaulting them and threatening them with a knife. Criminality has changed a lot in Sweden during the last ten years. Crimes and methods that in the past were associated with the mafia or foreign crime groups are now quite commonplace in the country. Large-scale cocaine smuggling, kidnappings, prostitution, robberies in the SEK 30 million league, murder on demand, car bombs and automatic weapon shootouts are no longer uncommon. Neither are bribes to prison staff and other officials, or threats to witnesses, police and prosecutors. It is however blackmail cases that have increased the most - a whopping 20% between 2007 and 2008 and the rate has in all likelihood accelerated with the recent hike in bankruptcies, especially in the service- and construction sectors, that are the favourite targets of gangs. According to the recently published book Svensk Maffia by Lasse Wierup and Matti Larsson, there are some 10 major criminal gangs operating in Sweden with some 75 local chapters. The largest group is the Hells Angels, with chapters in Malmö, Helsingborg, Bromma, Nacka, Gunnilse, Karlstad, Göteborg, and "hangers on" chapters in Luleå, Norrköping, Eskilstuna and Uppsala. The Red & White Crew and the Red Devils belong in the Hells Angelsdominated sphere with fifteen local chap- 12 Swedish Press March 2009 ters. The members of these two sub-groups are often aspiring to become full-fledged Hells Angels, often doing the dirty work for the big guys, whose main focus is money. According to some ex-members, the reason for joining the Hells Angels is for the camaraderie and the love of motorcycles. The other big criminal group in Sweden is the Bandidos Motor Cycle Club which, for a long time, was in a war with the Hells Angels. Bandidos have almost as big an organization as the Hells Angels with local chapters in Helsingborg, Göteborg, Stockholm, Säffle and Ludvika and six local "prospect chapters". The Diablos, X-team, Loyalty BFL and Evil Crew, with some 19 local chapters, also belong in the Bandidos sphere. This gang includes the most diverse group of people including "neo-Nazis, Latin Americans, Eastern Europeans and people from the Middle East", and interestingly very few drive motorcycles. The third largest criminal gang is the Outlaws Motorcycle Club with chapters in Stockholm and Åtvidaberg and two prospect HENRIC BORGSTRÖM: PENNINGRULLNING LÖNAS MER ÄN VÅRD Finanskrisen borde föranleda en hel del omvärderingar. Men lönesättningen kommer nog att överleva också den här krisen. Det går knappast att rucka på den absurda värderingen av arbete. Lägst avlönade är de inom vård och utbildning, i mitten finns de som arbetar med prylar och högst upp i pyramiden återfinns de som arbetar med pengar. Men de flesta betraktar sig som sanna humanister, inte som prylfixerade, inte som pengagalna. Därmed borde väl lönepyramiden vara upp- och nedvänd, de som ägnar sitt liv åt människor skulle ha de höga lönerna, de som rullar pengar på jobbet få nöja sig med de låga lönerna. Nu sätts dock löner efter marknadsekonomins principer, inte efter folks moraliska känslor. I en marknadsekonomi styr utbud och efterfrågan prissättningen också på arbete, alltså lönerna. I finansbranschen är utbudet av villig arbetskraft stort, många studenter i ekonomi vill inget hellre än att sitta bakom flimrande skärmar som speglar värdepapper eller försöka tillämpa teoretiska modeller på vad företag egentligen är värda. Efterfrågan på arbetskraft till finansbranschen är idag obefintlig under krisen och den var inte särskilt stor ens före dess utbrott. Swedish Press March 2009 chapters as well as the Rough Creed and Black & White Crew with four local chapters. Brödraskapet Wolfpack was formed in jail, but now has chapters in Västerås, Göteborg, Kristianstad and Stockholm. There are also a lot of local gangs, often with an ethnic identity, like Original Gangsters, Fucked For Life, Chosen One, Tigrarna, Asir, International Criminal Elite and Werewolf Legion. Groups and chapters change all the time and over time, so they are not that easy to track. Members often operate on their own, with or without kick-backs to their gang. They may choose accomplices from outside the gang and the trend seems to be towards "business trumping club loyalties", according to the authors of Svensk Maffia. Every now and again gang warfare breaks out somewhere in Sweden with shootouts where innocent passers-by have narrowly missed getting injured. In one incident a bullet came through an apartment as two cars were shot at several times. Last summer a number of people were injured in what the police believed to be a conflict between the Enligt teorierna för marknadsekonomins funktionssätt skulle därmed lönerna vara mycket låga i penningens tjänst. Då måste det väl handla om extraordinär skicklighet när finansknuttarna toppar löneligorna. Men är det någonting som finanskrisen visat så är det bristande skicklighet på alla nivåer. Det viktigaste i penningrullningens tjänst är riskbedömning. Ju större risk desto högre avkastning. Obefintlig risk, som t ex köp av statens obligationer, belönas med lägsta avkastningen. Men det är just här på penninghanteringens allra viktigaste område som misslyckandet har skett, allt från de högsta bankdirektörerna som vi ser högst i löneligorna ned till kundrådgivarna bakom marmordiskarna. Och ändå lär de få behålla sina höga löner. En del av dem upplever en ny guldålder som konsulter för att röja upp i det låneträsk som bankledningarna skapat. Visst skär bankerna ned en del just nu. Men det gäller bara i undantagsfall de som mest bidragit till krisen, bankledningarna och de entusiastiska försäljarna som på bankernas nyspråk kallades analytiker fram till IT-krisen för åtta år sedan och sedan döpte om sig till aktiestrateger. Att fallera i riskbedömning trodde vi att bankledningarna var immuna mot, de som ändå genomlevde den svåra fastighets- och finanskrisen i början av 1990-talet.. Problemet är att många av de tongivande i goda tider är 30 – 35-åringar med de bästa Brödraskapet Wolfpack photographed inside the Kumla prison in 1997 Bandidos, many of whose members are in jail, and several other more loose-knit nameless criminal networks whose members either have a common background or have served jail time together. It is not easy for the police to investigate these crimes since there is often a strict code of silence The Minister of Justice Beatrice Ask has just kicked off a program that tries to identify vulnerable youth and provide them with assistance before they are lured into gangs, and conversely assist, and provide protection to, those who are attempting to leave, or have managed to break away from, a gang. betygen från akademierna, de duktigaste räknemästarma rent tekniskt, men de saknar egen erfarenhet av tidigare kriser. De som levt i medgång med höga löner har dålig kunskap om hur problemen med överbelånade kunder ska lösas. Få känner sig medansvariga, det går ju alltid att skylla på den amerikanska bolånekrisen och amerikaners och européers rädsla inför framtiden. Men den omsorgsfulla kreditprövningen på hemmaplan, den glömde de. Det finns naturligtvis en förklaring till att finansfolket seglat genom ett halvt årtusende med de högsta lönerna, de påstås ju fungera som ett smörjmedel i ekonomin så att kapitalet skickas dit det kan användas på bästa sätt. Och allmänheten som betalar kalaset förblindas av sin önskan att tjäna ytterligare några kronor på värdestegring. Därför tjänar finansfolket mer än teknikerna – men tänk om teknikerna gång på gång hade misslyckats så kapitalt att hela samhällsmaskineriet hotades. Ändå tillåts finansfolket klättra vidare mot de högsta lönerna medan vårdpersonalen och skolfolket fortsätter i låglöneligan. Kvar finns den obesvarade frågan – varför ger vi inte mest till de som vårdar våra nära och kära och utbildar våra barn. Eller snarare – varför orkar vi inte ta tag i det uppenbart absurda att finansknuttarna har långt mer än dubbla löner jämfört med dem som sysslar med våra liv. Henric Borgström är mångårig ekonomijournalist i svensk press, radio och TV. 13 Swedes in the News FLOP ON BROADWAY ① Peter Stormare’s Broadway debut has been cut to pieces by critics. “One of the worst revivals I have ever seen,” says Ben Brantley of the New York Times of Henrik Ibsen’s classic Hedda Gabler, playing at Roundabout Theatre in New York until March 29. Stormare as the manipulative lawyer is described as having “the hardy, thuggish air of a Russian mob czar”. The cool reception has had a negative effect on ticket sales and they are now being sold off at a 40 percent discount, something that is highly unusual on Broadway. One of Sweden's most accomplished actors, Peter Stormare has performed leading roles in Long Day's Journey Into Night, Miss Julie, King Lear and Hamlet under the direction of the legendary Ingmar Bergman at the Royal National Theater of Sweden. But this is the first time in ten years that he is back on the stage, more recently having performed in several Hollywood films alongside actors such as Nicole Kidman, Matt Damon, Chloë Sevigny and Willem Dafoe. DEBUT ALBUM The Swedish pop sensation ➁ Lykke Li is getting rave reviews on her North American tour in support of her supple debut album, Youth Novels. The free-spirited and multi-talented 22-year old indie singer, who mixes electronic pop and acoustic soul, has awed audiences with her surprising, infectious charisma. Lykke Li released her first album in 2008 and has quickly rose to international fame, collaborating with artists such as Kanye West, Santogold, Röyksopp, Q-Tip, as well as Sweden's own Kleerup. director for Sörenstam’s business brand since December 2006. Before heading off on a honeymoon ski trip, Sörenstam hosted the Annika Invitational, an American Junior Golf Association event for 60 top females around the world at the Ginn Reunion Resort, where she has her academy. She also appeared at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, and was later honored at the “Annika Celebration" at Ginn Reunion Resort, which featured a skins game among Sörenstam, Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer and Natalie Gulbis. PORN KING IN TAX ARREARS The “porn king”, ④ Berth Milton, has been hit with an 865 million kronor tax bill in a ruling by the Stockholm County Administrative Court. According to the Länsrätten, Milton earned 1.35 billion kronor in unreported income between 1996 and 1999. “If I sold refrigerators, none of this would have happened. It’s only because I’m involved with pornography,” said Milton who has vowed to appeal the ruling. “They can’t handle that I manage a pornography company in a legal manner.” The investigation of Milton’s tax arrears has dragged on for the past decade. The main part of the lengthy judicial process has been centered on determining whether Berth Milton is required to pay taxes in Sweden, even though, since the late 1980s, he has operated his company from his residence in Spain. In 1999, he took his adult entertainment empire, Private Media Group public, making it the first porn company with a listing on New York’s Nasdaq stock exchange. The portfolio includes four magazines, DVDs, websites, and licensing activities. ANNIKA INVITATIONAL Four weeks after the Swedish golf star ended her Hall of Fame career, ③ Annika Sörenstam wed Mike McGee at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Florida. Annika’s Swedish friend Maria Bertilsköld was the maid of honor. About 125 guests attended the afternoon ceremony and evening reception. McGee, the son of former PGA Tour player Jerry McGee, has served as managing 1 14 2 3 THE BIRGIT NILSSON PRIZE DEBUTS The late Swedish soprano ⑤ Birgit Nilsson herself picked Spanish tenor Placido Domingo to receive the first prize given in her memory. The $1 million Birgit Nilsson Prize, the biggest prize in classical music history, will be handed out at the end of the year in Stockholm. Nilsson, who died on December 25, 2005 at the age of 87, first sang with Domingo at the Metropolitan Opera in 1969 in a matinee production of Tosca, after which she praised his "superb" acting and "gorgeous singing." Domingo meanwhile once said in an interview that Nilsson's recording of "In questa reggia" was one of his all-time favourites, but added that "the recording cannot compare to the sound I heard when singing with her." Nilsson's most famous role was that of Isolde in Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde, with which she took La Scala by storm in 1956 and established her credentials as one of the 20th century's great Wagnerian sopranos. Birgit Nilsson made her last public appearance in 1984 and published her autobiography La Nilsson in 1995. INSPIRERAD AV FARMOR Årets kock är ➅Victor Westerlind från restaurang Fredsgatan 12 i Stockholm som även kammade hem silvermedaljen genom kocken Christofer Ekman. Bronset gick till Alexander Sjögren från Vendel Ales Stenar i Kåseberga i Skåne. Förutom titeln fick Westerlind Gastronomiska Akademiens mejerimedalj i guld. Fem män och en kvinna tävlade i Lisebergshallen i Göteborg om den prestigefyllda titeln Årets kock. Finalisterna hade fem timmar på sig för sina två tävlingsuppgifter. Den första var att ur en hemlig råvarukorg tillaga en kötträtt baserad på en kotlettrad av gårdsgris. Innehållet i korgen fick de reda på 45 minuter i förväg. Den andra uppgiften, var att tillaga en modern restaurangrätt baserad på sej, blåmusslor och räkor. Sin inspiration till matlagning hämtar Westerlind från tidigare generationer. - Jag har vuxit upp med farmors matlagning. Hon var hushållslärare. 4 5 6 Swedish Press March 2009 Local News WASHINGTON N O T E S Michael M. Wood, the U.S. ambassador to Sweden (until January 20) was honored during the Change to Green seminar at the House of Sweden for his great contributions to the field of green technology. SACC Washington DC presented Ambassador Wood with the 2008 Wilhelm Wachtmeister Award (a glass bowl by Ingegerd Råman), in the presence of Ambassador Jonas Hafström, representatives from industry and government. Ambassador Wood is being recognized for his achievements especially with the program One Big Thing that he founded, which so far has resulted in projects on both sides of the Atlantic valued at between 150 and 200 million dollars. N NEW YORK O T E S MThe Swedish artist and sculptor Carl Köhler (1919-2006) worked in a modernistic tradition and often found his motives in the world of theatre, music, dance and literature. Right now many of his portraits of authors, like Joyce Carol Oates (left) are on show at the Brooklyn Public Library (until April 4). “He was wellknown by art followers in Sweden, but he was not as well-known to the general public” says his son Henry Köhler who is the curator of the show. “For this reason, I believe he would have been honored to have the opportunity to display his work here in New York” N OTTAWA O T E S MIkea plans to demolish the east end of the Pinecrest mall and build a new 37,000 square meter two-storey store that wil be as big as 8 football fields. Ikea owns the entire mall that it bought from Zellers in 1993. From having the smallest Ikea store in the country, the Ottawa store will become the largest and one of the five largest stores in North America. Swedish Press March 2009 N WINNIPEG O T E S At our meeting in January, Sonja Lundström did a presentation on Jokkmokk. She was there for the 400th Anniversary last year, and by the sound of it, she found a "soul-mate" kind of town. Armed with a map, brochures and a film, she told her story about the town, the people, the events and the winter. She also demonstrated how to make ice lanterns with balloons. Save this idea for next year. It has to be really cold. Fill a balloon with water, blow a little bit of air into it, and tie it shut. Place the balloon in a snow drift, knot up, and pile a bit of snow part ways up the side. The next morning, pop the ballon and drain any water. Turn it knot side down. That is now a flat bottom of thick ice, and you should have an ice bowl. Place a candle, tea light or cresset light in your ice bowl, and you have your lantern. When not in Jokkmokk, Sonja is a district nurse, and as such, she meets all kinds of people through her job and the university nursing program. At the University of Manitoba, there are maybe a half dozen Swedes right now, and Sonja invited them to come and hear her presentation. Some Winnipeg Swedes went down to Hallock, MN, to attend the funeral of Phyllis Johnson, who passed away after an accident on the ice. Phyllis was the mother of Lyndon Johnson, who is our mandolin playing, singing American who comes to Winnipeg for so many of our events. He plays at most of our midsommar fests, and often attends our Christmas parties. Phyllis had many friends in Winnipeg, and was an active senior in Hallock, involved in the Swedish community and a singing group. She taught Lyndon and his sisters how to sing, which he in turn brought to us, so we have been positively affected by Phyllis. Ellen Boryen Swedish university students visited the Scandinavian Center to listen to the Sonja Lundström lecture. (Above) Lukas Mustagarui from Uppsala) with the Centre’s President Selma Parsons and Carl Kjell from Halmstad and Elin Andersson from Storvik near Gävle. N CANADA O T E S “More than 500 manuscript pages of the book Swedes in Canada have now been written” reports researcher & writer Elinor Barr. The Swedes in Canada project is her baby and a recent newsletter is full of enthusiasm. “There are only one-and-a-half more chapters to go! The completed manuscript will be ready for the pre-publication readers by March. I am grateful that five people have agreed to share their expertise by commenting on what has been written and suggesting changes. My summer will be spent fine tuning the manuscript in accordance with their comments. The book promises to be very interesting and well worth waiting for, but don’t expect to hold it in your hands until 2010 at the earliest. There are many hoops to jump through before a book finally goes to press. A hearty thank you to all those who have commemorated immigrants through our Honour the Pioneers program. All entries are now online. Please check our website at www.swedesincanada.ca and report any errors to Beth Boegh at [email protected] so that they can be corrected. Beth, codirector of Lakehead Social History Institute, is handling Honour the Pioneers. Some of you may have received a letter from Lakehead University asking for a donation. These letters were sent in error, please disregard them. All correspondence from the Swedes in Canada project is written on our letterhead except for income tax receipts which are sent out by Lakehead University.” 15 LentBun Traditions 16 Swedish Press March 2009 Swe de n in India India is one of the most interesting countries to watch during the next decade. The ties between Sweden and India have been strong since the independence of the country but also historically. Compared to the other BRIC countries, Brazil and China, there is not a huge presence of Swedes, with only about 300-400 permanent residents in India having Swedish citizenship. However many times more Swedes come every year as tourists, the majority during winter to enjoy the wonderful climate and beaches of Goa and Kerala. In the opposite direction Indians are one of the biggest groups to have applied for work permits in Sweden after the introduction of new Swedish legislation making it easier for non-EU citizens to come and work in the country. New Dehli The capital of India is going through a major make-over in preparation for the Commonwealth Games to be held there in 2010. There is a new efficient Metro and even the old centre at Connaught Place is slowly being spruced up. New residential areas, complete with amenities like hyper-modern shopping malls reminiscent of Singapore, are springing up on what used to be the outskirts. The biggest construction project is for a new airport where Gita Ray has been hired as General Manager of Terminal Operations. She used to work for Sweden's Scandic Hotels before getting interested in the airlines and eventually ending up running operations at Arlanda Airport in Stockholm. Gita feels that an airport should work much the same as a hotel when it comes to atmosphere, service and "community". Her challenge now is to make the Indira Gandhi Airport into one of the world's ten best airports. This is one of the most exciting jobs Gita (right) can imagine, especially since her father is from India. It has not been all smooth going since the family - husband and two children - have moved to Delhi but Gita holds on to the Indian saying "what doesn’t kill you only make you stronger”. Swedish Press Match 2009 Writers The Embassy Alva Myrdal and Jawaharlal Nehru In the newly translated biography Alva Myrdal: The Passionate Mind (Indiana University Press ISBN 978-0-253--35132-6), Yvonne Hirdman tells the "remarkable and dramatic story" of the Nobel Peace Prize winner and welfare state architect who was also Sweden's Ambassador to India 1956 to 1961. "India had been Alva's dreamland when she was a girl, the country of her idol Tagore, the place that had occupied so much space in her thoughts". It was also the country where she was to meet one of the special people in her life, India's first Prime Minister, since independence in 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru about whom she later drafted a document titled "A Love Affair That Never Became A Love Affair". It has been widely speculated that Nehru had an affair with Edwina Mountbatten, the wife of the last Viceroy of India, but there is no evidence of anything more than a very strong friendship with Alva Myrdal. Many are the foreign ambassadors to India who have with envy eyed the enormous plot of land Sweden was able to acquire during Myrdal's reign to build one of the country’s most beautiful embassies anywhere. The Embassy, residence and staff quarters, set in a wonderful 40 000 square meter park, were designed by the architects Sune Lindström and Jöran Curman. The compound was inaugurated in the presence of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1959 and the present Ambassador to India, Lars-Olof Lindgren, is busy preparing for the 50th anniversary later this year. The Embassy also includes a trade office and offices of the Swedish Development CoOperation Agency Sida. Swedes have always been fascinated by India. Authors like Arthur Lundkvist (Indiabrand 1950) and Jan Myrdal (Indien väntar 1980) have written very analytical books about the subcontinent. Swedish author Zac O'Yeah, who lives in Bangalore has written a biography of Gandhi (Mahatma! 2008), but also the science fiction tale Tandooriälgen (The Tandoori Moose 2006) that plays out in a Göteborg that has become Indian and changed its name to Gautampuri. The premise for this rather funny story is that environmental change has made Europe tropical and, as a demonstration against the U.S.A., in a plebiscite, chosen to be a part of the peaceful Indian outlook, rather than the destructive western view of the world. The novel begins with detective Barsk, on night patrol in Gautampuri's Masthugget blocks where the Swedish native people live with their old street signs, deciding to go to restaurant Tandoori Moose for a well-tasting bribe. "The detective trail is solid, the satire intelligent and the style sure-footed throughout" writes one critic about this fun ➢➢➢ and readable book. One of Sweden's foremost photographers Rune Hassner (1928-2003) took the picture of the girl in Mukmelpur in 1961. 17 Pune Crown Princess Victoria donned a turban for her trip, although no Indian woman wear it. Bollywood When Crown Princess Victoria visited Mumbai ① last fall, she not only met with India's most powerful CEO, Alan Rosling, who steers India's biggest industrial empire, the Tata Group (that had just presented its Nano car costing less than $1 000), but also Bollywood star Amir Khan (left). The actor, director and producer who was born into one of India's most prolific film-making families, began as a child actor. He had the leading role and was the producer of Lagaan, that was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2001. The Crown Princess, who had seen his film Tare Zameen Par, is a fan. There were Bollywood-like dramatics when Victoria was leaving New Delhi ➁ on Jet Airways. A series of protocol slip-ups led to a delay in boarding while passengers on the waiting plane were becoming increasingly impatient. Just as the Crown Princess and her entourage boarded the plane, the flight crew announced that the flight had been delayed to accommodate a Swedish VIP whereupon the plane erupted in a chorus of boos. The airline later apologized. The replica ship Götheborg visited Chennai 18 A lot of Swedish-Indian cooperation was started during Alva Myrdal's time as Sweden's powerful ambassador to India 1956-1961. In 1960 Lars de Jounge traveled to Pune ③ in the Maharashtra province and started up Sandvik Asia Ltd. Many other Swedish companies were to follow, and when there was the annual inter-Swedish group of companies sports meet (that included games of cricket, carom, chess, badminton, swimming and table tennis), major conglomerates like Sandvik, SKF, Atlas Copco, Tetra Pak, Alfa Laval and Höganäs were represented. There was strength in numbers and enough Swedes to even start an all-Swedish boarding school at the "Princess of Hill stations" ④ Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu. The Swedish School is no longer, but students still remember it as a wonderful place that even attracted "Farbror Sven" Jerring to conduct one of his beloved children's radio programs "Barnens Brevlåda" at the school. Bombay Works An IT consultant costs SEK 38 315 a month in Sweden, but only SEK 6 394 in India. The price difference is the driving force behind the IT company Bombay Works, started by 30-year old Gabriel Mannheimer. His and other Swedish companies in Mumbai ① and Bangalore ⑤ carry out IT projects at about half of what they would cost to do in Sweden. Expl;orers Chennai is located on the south eastern Coromandel Coast of India, that was long a favorite of the Europeans, with Portuguese, British, French, Dutch and Danish settlements. Last year the Swedish ship Götheborg visited Chennai ➅ on its trip around Asia. The ship is a replica of one of the Swedish East India Company ships that made some 132 very profitable expeditions with 38 different ships to Asia, but never to the Coromandel Coast. The Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus helped to arrange passage for many of his "apostles" on board East India Company ships, but the only one that ever made it to India was Olof Torén (1718-1753) who stopped briefly in Surat ➆ in Gujarat on the west coast of India in 1750 en route to Canton in China. Another Linnaeus connection comes in the way of the British photographer Linnaeus Tripe (1822-1902), who documented India and Burma in his pictures. ❷ ❼ ❶ ❸ ➎ ❻ ❹ Hand In Hand Percy Barnevik visited India for the first time in 1968 as CEO of the Swedish Sandvik company. After merging ABB, he raised the company's employment in India from the hundreds to 11 000. Later as Chairman of Wallenberg's Investor company, the Astra Zeneca pharmaceutical company and the construction company Skanska, not to speak of as a board member of Du Pont and GM, Barnevik followed India's development closely. Today the legendary industrialist is spending part of the 148 million swiss francs he got from ABB on the Hand In Hand charity (see CompanyFile page 23) that he leads. Percy Barnevik champions India’s women Swedish Press March 2009 Climate Change The massive brownish cloud over India is primarily caused by fires lit with fresh fuel like wood and cow dung, according to Swedish research. Until now what exactly is causing the cloud has not been identified. But according to Swedish researchers, only a third of the cloud is caused by fossil fuels like coal, oil and gasoline. Hundreds of thousands of people in India die prematurely from lung and heart diseases that are directly connected to the pollution. Furthermore the cloud contributes to climate change and to the melting of the glaciers of the Himalayas. This in turn leads to flooding and in the long run a shortage of water in large parts of Asia. Hence Swedish researchers argue that it is important to provide alternatives to wood and cow dung and suggest solar power as a good alternative. Fluent In Swedish Pink India Lena Falk started Pink India in Bangalore Lena Falk was a buyer for the Swedish fashion retailer H&M in India when she, in 2004, decided to start her own line called Pink India. The main reason for quitting her job was her new Indian boyfriend and an imminent transfer to Indonesia. Lena set up her own factory in Bangalore ⑤, where she produces annual collections of women's fashions and interior decoration. She pays better than average wages and sells her brightly coloured collection, famous for its embroidery, to ten countries. Her main frustration, she says, is that her producers are not very punctual and that they, instead of being frank, tell her what they think she wants to hear. Swedish There are two Swedish words used in India - Ombudsman and Bofors - but try to avoid the latter, as it stands for scandal and bribery. Swedish Press March 2009 Narayan Datt Tiwari (right) is the Governor of Andra Pradesh and one of India's most experienced politicians. The 83-year-old has been India's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Finance, Minister of Planning, Minister of Industry and Minister of Works, just to mention a few of his important posts. And what is special about him is that he speaks Swedish. While Alva Myrdal was the Ambassador of Sweden in India, her husband Gunnar celebrated his 60th birthday. It was no easy task to come up with a birthday gift for this professor in economics, minister of trade, UN expert and the hailed author of An American Dilemma and An Asian Drama who had already received the ultimate gift - the Nobel Prize in Economics. The reigning Social Democratic Party in Sweden decided to give a promising young Indian politician a six month stipend to study in Sweden "in honour of Gunnar Myrdal". He was delighted and after consultations with India's Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the man chosen for this visit was Narayan Datt Tiwari who, at the age of 17, had spent 16 months in prison for working for India's independence. The time in Sweden was a time of great revelation for Tiwari. He travelled all over the country visiting Jokkmokk, Gällivare and Kiruna in the north and Lund, Malmö and Göteborg in the south. And he became a good friend of Tage Erlander and Olof Palme. Namaste means welcome in Hindi and that is how Mina Neumüller, Sumit Malhotra and Cecilia Blomqvist feel in Delhi ➁ where they work for the Swedish companies Oriflame, Sony Ericsson and H&M respectively. Sumit, who was born in Delhi, moved to Stockholm with his parents at the age of 6. Indiska In Sweden Indiska, the fashion and interior decoration retailer, is as recognized a name as H&M and Ikea. It started off as Indiska Utställningen in 1901, with a certain Countess Hamilton setting up shop with the spoils of her Asian shopping spree. Half a century later the opera singer Åke Thambert bought the store and modernized it. When the Beatles visited India and flower power fashion became all the rage, Indiska went through a rapid expansion and opened stores all over Sweden. Pizza King Swedish Iranian Vahid Berenjian was a pioneer in the pizza business in India and his US Pizza now has 65 franchised pizzerias on the subcontinent. Tandoori pizza is one of the bestsellers. Originally Vahid, who came to Sweden as a 22-year-old refugee, wanted to become a dentist. He got bored with his studies and bought a pizzeria in Enköping. His idea was to franchise, but there were not enough takers in Sweden so in 1995 the family moved to Bangalore ⑤ and opened its first pizzeria there. Now Vahid Berenjian has sold 49 percent of US Pizza to the Indian Kotecha Capital Group and is moving back to Sweden to introduce pizza baking in grocery stores and open a "Pizza Training Academy" in Enköping, where the saga began. Vahid Berenjian plans to return to Sweden 19 Government Expert Gunilla Ekberg: “Sweden is an exception to other countries because we really have very few women in street prostitution.” Gunilla Ekberg has been the Swedish government’s Special Adviser on issues of prostitution and trafficking in women since 2001. She is also a member of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)-Canada. She has a degree in sociology from the University of Lund and a degree in law from the University of British Columbia. (Gunilla Ekberg refuses to have her photograph taken). How is prostitution defined in Sweden? In Sweden, prostitution is officially acknowledged as a form of male sexual violence against women and children. One of the cornerstones of Swedish policies against prostitution and trafficking in human beings is the focus on the root cause, that without men’s demand for women and girls for sexual exploitation, the prostitution industry would not be able to exist. Prostitution is a serious problem that is harmful to society at large. Prostituted women and children are seen as victims of male violence and so they should not risk legal penalties. Instead, they should have a right to get help to escape prostitution. How did the legislation come into place? It started with the Swedish women’s movement in the beginning to mid-70s. I was very young but I was in a consciousnessraising group in 1976 where there were women who had been in prostitution and there were other groups here and there around Sweden. Then what the National Association of Battered Women’s Shelters at that time did every year when parliament, riksdagen opened, was to give a list of demands to all of the female parliamentarians. From 1986 among their demands they put that they wanted to see prostitution as a form of violence and that purchasing it should be criminalized. There were three commissions, one in 1977, one in the 80s and one in 1995 that were looking at how we could deal with prostitution and they came away with different proposals. It is interesting how they progressed. The third proposed to criminalize both the men and the women. There was an outcry not because of the criminalizing of the men but the fact that this commission proposed that the women were to be criminalized. In Sweden there is generally speaking an understanding that those who are in prostitution 20 Interview: have had a difficult life. That helped with the understanding. There was not a large lobby that was assuming that prostitution was work like any other work. That made it easier. In the 1994 election the Swedish women’s movement had declared that either half of all the electoral lists had to be women or we were going to create a women’s party. So that’s when all the parties decided to do the every other woman thing and that shifted from 27 percent women to 45 percent in parliament. So issues that were concerning women were much more talked about and that’s what opened the discussion. We started looking at all forms of male violence and prostitution came into that group. The law that came into force on January 1 1999 was a cross-party issue and that is important to say. The decision was also a cross-party one and the only ones who voted against were the Liberals - Folkpartiet. How is the situation in Sweden today? There has been quite a sizeable decrease in the number of young women and men who are in prostitution. The latest research was released on October 16 2008 by a reputable researcher who has done other research on this and this research says there are 600 women, all in all, in prostitution and that includes the women that are trafficked. The majority of prostitutes in most countries these days in the western world are women from other countries. Perhaps there are more prostitutes than the research has found but it is still a very low number compared to our neighbouring countries. Sweden is an exception to other countries because we really have very few women in street prostitution, The city where there are most women in street prostitution is in Gothenburg. Stockholm almost no-one. It of course depends on how much the anti-prostitution forces and the police will arrest buyers but in Stockholm there might be one or two per night. How did the enforcement work practically? What the police did when the law came into place was to first target street prostitution. After three months there were almost no men buying on the streets. 80 percent of the men disappeared like this because they did not want to be arrested. But now after those three months the police are targeting indoor prostitution. Prostitution can never go underground. That is one of the myths that those who are for prostitution always want to spread. Because if the pimps want to make money they need to get in contact with the buyers and the contact point is always open. If I was a pimp I can put up little cards or I can make a website. In Stockholm sometimes they put posters on traffic lights with a cell number and the police, of course, investigates these constantly, and they will follow the trail of the buyer. Stockholm police say it is very simple. And the simplest is on the internet because it is so easy to trace any of those transactions. Just two years ago we had a huge case where all the prostitution, the selling of the women and the purchasing of the women went through three websites and the police managed to take them down but also find the pimp and find the brothels where the women were sold and there were 1500 men who were identified in that case alone. They were not all apprehended because it was not possible to do that. We knew who they were, we had their names, we had their phone numbers. The problem in Sweden is not at all the implementation or the enforcement of the law because the police is very well trained now. So they are pretty much on the ball. How has the prosecution side worked? Until the end of October 2008 there were 1785 men who had been apprehended. Of those men two-thirds have pleaded guilty. A lot of men plead guilty because they want to get out of there so they pay the fine and they don’t have to go to court. If they are convicted they get a criminal record and the judgements are public so you can go in and read the procuring and trafficking judgements. You see the pimps but you will also have the men who buy identified, what they did, who they purchased, how many times, how much did they pay, their address, their social insurance number etc. So men try everything they can not to get on the register. The fines are day fines - dagsböter so it is a percentage of their salary. So if men don’t make a lot of money they don’t pay a lot. We have had judges who have paid quite a lot of money and corporate people who have paid up to 25 000 euros. We haven’t had any jail sentences. Swedish Press March 2009 What other changes are necessary to bring about a more gender equal society? We need a better rape legislation. The problem with the one that is in place is that very few rapists are convicted. In the UK legislation on rape they have what they call reversed onus and that means that if a suspected rapist says that she consented he has to prove that she consented and so that relieves the burden on her. There is a commission in Sweden in place right now that is looking at the rape law. I think we don’t need many more laws. What I find is the difference between Sweden and Canada when it comes to judges is that here they have obligatory education for judges because there is an understanding that if you are a white middle class middle-aged man you cannot understand the situation of an aboriginal young woman from up north and so you need to learn. A Swedish Police poster against prostitution How did you get involved? I have always worked on violence against women. When I was about nine or ten my parents and I went to Holland because there was some exchange programme so we could stay with a family and they wanted us to see Amsterdam and they took us to the red light district. I was too young so I could not put words to it but I remember looking at the women and thinking it was not right. It was something that really stayed in my head and I know that I was very unhappy and my mother told me later that I cried a lot after that. It had an impact. Violence against women has always engaged me because I am privileged not to have been a victim myself. I became a social worker. This is what I concentrated on in my political work. And I am not talking party politics because I am not a member of any party and I have never been and I will not be. I am a feminist. Which countries presently have similar prostitution laws to Sweden? On November 20 2008 the Norwegian parliament voted to have a similar law and it is better. They have made a couple of changes to the Swedish law. They have instead of saying purchase of a sexual service they talk about the purchase of a sexual act because that takes it out of the business context. They have expanded the law. Normally if we want to prosecute somebody for a crime that’s committed outside of Sweden that country has to have exactly the same legislation. Norway decided to remove this requirement so now they are opening it up so they can get at sex tourism. They have learnt from us and they have decided to make it better. Any changes in the rest of the world? I travel a lot and yes there are small changes here and there and there is more awareness. I am the co-executive of a large international organization so I am mostly called upon by many governments to come and talk about and function as an expert, not only on work we have done in Sweden but generally on prostitution. I wish I could take the whole Swedish population to some of the places I have travelled to so that they could come home and say how lucky they are. But you can also travel and not see things. Think of Thailand where so many Swedes go. People don’t see the absolute abject situation women are in. We have a country that has not been involved in wars for so long, we have a society where we have been able to develop certain benefits for people even if they are not independently rich and it is a society that tries to find solutions. We are very pragmatic in Sweden. If we have a problem, we don’t worry about the ideology. We fix it. Tell us a bit about yourself. I grew up in Skåne. I was born in Lund. I have lived in Canada, in the United States, Nepal. I now live in Brussels. I have a degree from Sweden and then I did my law degree in Canada. I never really wanted to practise law. I wanted to write legislation, do legal and policy work. My parents were not politically involved. This is my journey. My parents were regular workers. It was at the time I was born that we had started having a social welfare system, health care, access to education without cost that I would not have had had I grown up in Canada. We could not have paid for the tuition. I am extremely lucky that I grew up there. In Canada higher education is very expensive and it is not possible for everybody and that it is really dividing class-wise society. Swedish Press March 2009 21 Business News ERICSSON CUTS JOBS Telecom giant Ericsson is cutting 5 000 jobs, including 1 000 in Sweden, despite an unexpectedly strong net profit of 3.9 billion kronor for the fourth quarter of 2008. Overall in 2008 Ericsson’s net earnings fell 47 percent to 11.67 billion kronor from sales that increased by 11 percent over 2007 to 208.93 billion. The company plans to continue with the current round of cost reductions, including cutting the number of consultants and other temporary staff, consolidation of research and development activities, and layoffs, initially announced in February 2008. The restructuring is estimated to cost between 6 and 7 billion kronor in 2009. When they have reached their full effect in the second half of 2010, the costcutting measures are expected to save Ericsson 10 billion kronor per year. "We are the ones that have managed to stay on a lead. I think we have a huge responsibility to take every measure to defend our position and make sure Ericsson stays a grand company," said CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg referring to Nortel, Motorola and Siemens. PAWN BROKERS ON A ROLL The economic downturn has created a windfall for one of Sweden's main pawn broker chains. Pantbanken Sverige has reported a 20 percent increase in loans given out last year compared to 2007. The company had 250 000 clients who borrowed some 1.4 billion kronor, a 40 percent increase from the previous year. Around 90 percent of all the loans, which on average were for 3 500 kronor last year, were repaid, with the borrowers getting their valuables back. "I haven't seen this kind of increase ever before," says Peter Sundström, head of Pantbanken Sverige, pointing out that the hike was even steeper than during Sweden's dire economic crisis in the 1990s. An increasing number of women, most of them in their forties, are coming in to pawn their jewelry, paintings and other valuables in an effort to "take care of their household finances." Jewelry makes up about 80 percent of the items left in Pantbanken's shops. KRONA SLIDES The Swedish krona has lost 43 percent of its value against the US dollar over the past six months. The krona has also lost around 15 percent of its value against the euro. “Mother Svea” on an old Swedish bank note A SHRINKING ECONOMY The economy of Sweden is expected to shrink 0.8 percent this year, according to government forecasts, marking the country’s worst recession in 30 years. The economy is expected to bounce back some time in 2010, according to the government, which predicts that gross domestic product will grow 1.5 percent next year The unemployment rate jumped almost a full percentage point in January, to 7.3 percent from 6.4 percent a year earlier while inflation edged higher to 1.3 percent from December's 0.9 percent, mainly due to higher prices on food. CompanyFile The enterprise drive is part of what Hand In Hand calls a five-pillar programme that includes adult literacy courses, schooling for children, and elimination of child labour; medical camps and health campaigns; citizens' centres where low-caste villagers can get information about their rights, register to vote and use a library or IT kiosk, of which there are now 1 381. Other areas are environmental protection, promoting water management, forestation, and waste and recycling management. The organization now covers 80 000 households with waste collection and women have started 54 vermi-compost enterprises that recycle waste into sellable compost. There are now 29 856 children enrolled in regular schooling through Hand In Hand and another 31 000 in Hand In Hand-run schools and centres. Here, too, there is a strong emphasis on self-help. Villagers must themselves pay the wages for the teachers in their new schools. Apart from his own donations, Barnevik (page 19) has been able to inspire industrialists like Hans Rausing and Oriflame's af Jochknick brothers to become major Hand In Hand contributors. Barnevik made a The world is a very unequal place to live in and for the “haves” it is easy to forget about the dire poverty that exists in many places around the world. As an example, one third of India’s population, of over a billion (1 000 000 000), lives on less than one dollar per day. Malnutrition affects nearly half of all children under the age of five and many continue to die from vaccine-preventible diseases such as measles and polio. Yet four billionaires from India have made it into the list of the ten richest people in the world. There are thousands of agencies and charities that are trying to make the world more equal. One of them gets more attention than others - at least in Sweden - not only because of its achievements but because its greatest contributor is management strategist and industrialist Percy Barnevik. Hand In Hand was started by a Swedish couple, both teachers, in 1988 to curb the incredible poverty in the Kancheepuram District of Tamil Nadu. Percy Barnevik, started donating to the charity in 2000. When the founders retired he took over as chairperson for the public charitable trust and he now spends twelve weeks each year in India. The rest of the year he takes care of the business of the organization from his home in London. The CEO and managing trustee is Kalpana Sankar who joined the organization after many years as a micro loan pioneer. Hand In Hand has today 2 278 employees, 2 964 part-time teachers, and Chairman Percy Barnevik and CEO Kalpana 18 661 volunteers engaged in the project, Sankar. (Below) Girls touched by the program The organization works towards eliminating extreme poverty in the world, through micro-finance and self help groups that train economically marginalized women in entrepreneurship and livelihood creation. There are now 26 605 self help groups with 386 943 weekly participants. The job creation is based on arranging loans of start-up capital to groups of 15 or 20 women (who are generally illiterate) to enable them to open small enterprises such as bakeries, garment factories and brickworks. 885 medium-sized businesses and 215 464 family-based enterprises have been started and the repayment rate of the loans has been an incredible 99.74%. Percy Barnevik is strict about loans not being used for consumption. They have to be repaid on time, and are made exclusively to women. “Men cannot be trusted not to drink and gamble the money away.” Swedish Press March 2009 deal with Bill Gates to place 4 000 IT stations in poor villages and with his insider knowledge from Astra Zeneca, he is purchasing drugs at a fair price for the 104 777 who have attended medical camps. Word about the success of Hand In Hand is getting around and Barnevik is already engaged in similar initiatives in Afghanistan, Brazil and South Africa. “Fluffy, unfocused and inefficient NGOs won't solve world poverty" says Percy Barnevik. But his business model can. Hand In Hand is creating 400 new jobs each day at an average cost of $150. If this figure is doubled, to be on the conservative side, the United Nations' millennium goal of eliminating extreme poverty across the globe by creating 500 million news jobs in twenty years could be reached at a cost of only $150 billion. That is equal to only 7% of the whole world's annual aid budget. "I don't want Hand in Hand to be the best NGO. I want it to be the best company," says Percy Barnevik, who became famous for his "purpose, process and people" mantra. By hiring staff only from India, administrative costs have been kept at a low 3%, compared to other NGOs that can run as high as 20%. When you donate e. g. $15 for Adult Literacy, $50 to get a child into school or $45,000 to start a residential school, 100% of the donation goes straight to the project. (Hand In Hand donors in the US and Canada can make tax-deductible donations by cheque through give2asia.org). 23 Swedish Press Sponsors Scandia Butik Mid-April to MidDecember, Monday thru Saturday 10:00 -4:00, Sunday 1:00-4:00, Closed Holidays, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving. Tours of Historic Buildings Mid-May to MidOctober, Friday, Saturday, Sunday Tours at 1, 2, and 3. Ph.: 651-433-5053 Annie's Swedish Coffee Parties 2nd & 4th Saturday May thru November 10am - Noon. Full 3 course Swedish Coffee Table and Guided Tour $10.00 Reservations Only 651-433-5053 www.gammelgardenmuseum.org 18518 Bothell Way NE, Suite B, Bothell Wa 98011 are advertisers who keep their link with the Swdish Community and that’s your Best Guarantee that they will give you Superior Quality and Service This space is inexpensive but it could work wonders for you! www.augustana.edu/sag [email protected] or call Anders Neumueller Swedish Press 604-731-6381 T R O P S (Left) Ingemar Johansson after the knock-out victory in 1959 and (below) in the 1990s. I ngemar Johansson has passed away at the age of 76. The death of the former world heavy weight boxing champion made big news in Sweden, the evening papers even printed special editions. Ingo was after all a Swedish sports hero, according to some the greatest of them all. "During his time he was regarded as one of Sweden's greatest athletes, and he still is," said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. In 2000, the Swedish Sports Academy selected Ingo as Sweden's third best athlete in the 20th century behind tennis star Björn Borg and alpine ski legend Ingemar Stenmark. Ingemar Johansson stunned the boxing world by knocking out Floyd Patterson to win the heavyweight title in 1959, becoming the first European to win the crown in 25 years. By the time Johansson had arrived at Yankee Stadium in New York in June 1959 to challenge Patterson for the title, he had accounted for Britain's Joe Bygraves, Henry Cooper and Joe Erskine and the American Eddie Machen. Patterson, though, was a considerable step up in class. The reigning champion had avoided the legitimate challenge of the awesome, mob-connected Sonny Liston for several years, and Johansson was seen as a softer option. The colourful Swede turned out to be anything but. In the third, Ingo silenced Yankee Stadium with the most dramatic single round of Swedish Press March 2009 heavyweight boxing since that between Jack Dempsey and the Argentine Luis Angel Firpo in 1923. Johansson sent Patterson to the floor seven times before the referee Ruby Goldstein stopped it. It was a stunning victory that interrupted the American hegemony in the sport's premier division stretching back to the days of John L Sullivan. Back home, hundreds of thousands of Swedes listened to the live radio broadcast at 3 a.m. (This is the backdrop to the closing sequence of the 1985 Oscar-nominated Swedish movie, My Life As A Dog). Swedish newspapers printed extra editions with Ingo on the cover. The victory earned him The Associated Press' Male Athlete of the Year honors in 1959, only the second Swede to win the award. The rematch a year later, lasted into the fifth, when Patterson dropped the new champion twice to become the first heavyweight to regain the title. When they went at it one more time, in Miami Beach in 1961, Johansson put his man down twice at the start of the fight, and was knocked over himself before the bell. By the sixth round, Patterson had reasserted his dominance and put Johansson out for the count. Ingo had four more fights, - all wins, one of them a knockout of England's Dick Richardson for the European title in 1962 before retiring the following year after beating Brian London in Stockholm to retain his European title. Ingo finished his career with a 26-2 record, including 17 knockouts. The charismatic Swede, who partied heartily, was a well-schooled upright boxer, with a good jab that helped set up a tremendous knockout right hand dubbed "Ingo's Bingo" and the "Hammer of Thor." Ingemar Johansson’s biggest disappointment came at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki where he was disqualified in the heavyweight final for not giving his best. The Swede always claimed that he backed away in that fight in an attempt to lure his American opponent Ed Sanders into his right-hand counter. Ingo eventually received his silver medal from the International Olympic Committee 30 years later . After finishing his boxing career, Ingemar Johansson became a businessman. He owned a fishing boat named "Ingo" and a bar called "Ingo's" in Göteborg. He later moved to Florida, where he operated a hotel at Pompano Beach and started playing golf. A colourful character, who acted in movies, Ingo completed the Stockholm Marathon before hundreds of thousands of spectators in 1985. His best friend after retirement was his old adversary, Floyd Patterson and they spent a lot of time together. During the 1990s, the pair attended many boxing conventions around the world where they also used to sign boxing memorabilia. Patterson died in 2006. Until cut down by Alzheimer's 10 years ago, Ingo was an entertaining presence at big fights as a TV commentator. Ingemar Johansson spent the last years of his life in Kungsbacka, only a few miles from the house where he grew up. He died at a nursing home there after being admitted with pneumonia. He was married and divorced twice, and is survived by six children. More than 1 000 people attended his funeral at Vasakyrkan in Göteborg. Raymond Patterson, Floyd Patterson's brother, honored Ingemar Johansson by donating a gift to the Swedish fighter's memorial fund. 25 NORTH AMERICAN ❑ V A N C O U V E R D I R E C T O R Y FINNS DET NÅGRA NYHETER PÅ FÖRSÄKRINGSFRONTEN? RRSP? Jo, fråga Lennart! Han har en del förslag. Sätt upp en fri planeringsträff med honom. Han har över 30 års erfarenhet i försäkringsbranchen. SCA SCANDINAVIAN SPECIALTIES Lennart Osterlind (604) 943-9973 Genom RELIANCE INSURANCE bilförsäkringar hos ICBC. Båt, hem och ansvarighetsförsäkringar liksom rese, liv, sjuk och gruppförsäkringar. Please take a look at Lennart’s Art at www.lennart.artsite.ca and much more JOLLY MEATS & FINE FOODS 111 Charles St., North Van. 604-929-7937 INGEBRETSEN’S an old world marketplace of the finest Scandinavian foods, imported gifts, music, books, clothing and needlework Call for our free catalog and order on line at www.ingebretsens.com 1601 East Lake Street Minneapolis, MN 55407 [email protected] 612-729-9333 1-800-279-9333 www.ingebretsens.com “Swedish Clogs for work, comfort and fashion” Louise and Arne Persson TOUCH OF SWEDEN Phone 604-731-1314 Nu kan ni gå på kondis! LIBERTY BAKERY 3699 Main Street @ 21st Street Vancouver www.swedishclogs.com (604) 709-9999 This space is inexpensive Certified Specialist in Orthodontics JOHN ERIC HELSING LAWYER, NOTARY PUBLIC Real Estate Purchases/Sales Wills ◆ Estates ◆ Company/Business law ◆ ◆ 300-1275 West 6th Avenue Vancouver BC V6H 1A6 PHONE: 604-739-7731 The runic writing on this t-shirt says: "If you can read this you are a Viking" Visit us at Swedesignt-shirts.com for more SCANDINAVIAN AND FUN T-SHIRTS like: "Got glögg?","Swedeheart" "Miniviking", "Dalahorse" SWEDESIGN 310-543-5012 but it could work wonders for you! [email protected] or call Anders Neumueller Swedish Press 604-731-6381 Dr. Bo I Höglund -Orthodontic appliances, braces and invisible braces for children and adults. 310-1959-152nd Street White Rock, B.C. V4A 9E3 Phone: 604-535-3028 www.whiterockortho.com Serving the Metro Vancouver Real Estate Market since 1985! Ben Marklund PARK GEORGIA REALTY 604-421-7275 [email protected] www.benmarklund.com Treats A la Liz and Anders Treiberg There comes a time in everybody's life, when they start mulling over what their true passion is. Liz and Anders Treiberg began to ponder over the question after they had sold their successful realty business in Victoria, B.C and it did not take long before the answer was staring them in the face. It was food and wine and all that wonderful time spent preparing memorable meals at their Cortes Island escape. This passion has now evolved into a cooking blog and website. Anders and Liz became hooked on the internet very early on and as much as 45 percent of their real estate business emanated from their real estate site and blog. Now Anders is taking courses to become a certified web site developer and Liz, who is a talented photographer, is perfecting her Photoshop skills. You can see the results on the KookingWithKarl.com website that provides great recipes with do-ityourself illustrations, and also sells specialty kitchen utensils and cookery books. Karl is Anders' middle name and made for a better sounding name for the site. However the name Anders has a long history in his family. Six generations ago Anders' forefather, Anders Andersson emigrated from Sweden to the Swedish-speaking part of Estonia. Eventually the family name was changed to Treiberg (or three mountains in German). Anders Treiberg's father, like so many Estonian-Swedes, fled to Sweden in 1939. A few years ago his property was given back to the family and some of it was donated to the adjacent Ryckholts Church, that was renovated with a donation from the Swedish king. Anders grew up in the many places around Sweden where his father's job as a mission church minister took him. Many summers and a few Easters were spent helping at the farm of church member Eskil Noge who, after years as a trapper, cowboy and gold digger in Canada, was raising beef cattle near Norrtelje. Anders was so taken by Eskil, who still wore cowboy gear and hunted moose and told many wonderful stories from the wild west, that he was sure he also wanted to become a cowboy. When he was 19 he got a job at a dairy farm in New York and made contact with the McRae Quarter Horse Ranch, near Edmonton in Alberta, thereby getting Swedish Press March 2009 The Treiberg got married in December. a job offer and a possibility of emigrating to Canada, which he did in 1976. The cowboy romantics eventually wore off and Anders instead spent eight years in the Alberta oil patch, quickly advancing to the position of drilling foreman. The pay was good and Anders was soon able to buy his own farm in Saskatchewan where his sister Rose had emigrated a year after him. In 1989 Anders moved with his wife and daughters to Victoria, where his parents had moved and settled in 1980. A year after the move Anders and his wife parted ways and he became a full-time dad raising his two daughters Jenny, 4 years old, and Linda, 3, plus embarking on a new career. Anders met Liz Grambart through his new career in real estate. She grew up near Bern, Switzerland, where her family still has an orchard, and came to Canada in 1967 to learn English. Anders and Liz built their business during a time when more and more people wanted to move to beautiful Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. The partnership evolved into something deeper and Liz and Anders officially tied the knot in December last year. They now have a blended family with son Mark and daughter in-law Lisa, daughters Jenny and Linda, two grand children Sarah and Ryan. Jenny (now 23) just this year on Valentines got engaged to her fiance Joshua. Here is one of their favorite recipes: ❦ SMOKEY CORN CHOWDER 2-4 tbs (30-60 ml) of butter (use more or less depending on how fatty your bacon is) 6 slices of thick bacon; chopped. I like Naturally smoked Harvest Bacon from Saskatchewan. If you want to go meat less, well, leave it out. But that would be a shame. 1/2 cup (120 ml) of chopped onions 1 cup (240 ml) of chopped celery 1/2 tsp of liquid smoke (like Woodland Natural Hickory Liquid, if you can’t get your hands on any you can go without, but it would also be a shame) 3 Cups / 710 ml of corn, including the broth ( I like Green Giant Kniblets Corn. Two 341 ml or 12oz cans are close enough) 2 Cups (480 ml) of cubed raw potatoes (I like using baby potatoes and cut them half with the skin on) 2 1/2 cup (540 ml) of water 5 tsp (25 ml) of sugar 3-4 tsp (15-20 ml) of salt (the amount of salt depends on how salty your bacon is, start with 3 tsp) 1/2 tsp of fresh ground pepper 4 Cups (960 ml) of Half & Half (10% Milk Fat) 3 tbs of flour In a large (5 plus liters/quarts) sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter, add the chopped up bacon, onions and cellery. Sauté for approximately 3-6 minutes, till celery is tender. Add the cubed potatoes, corn and liquid smoke, saute for another minute while tossing at all times. This is to coat the corn and potatoes with the liquid smoke. Now add the water, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and turn down to simmer on low for 10-20 min. The potatoes should not be cooked all the way, just starting to get soft. Take one cup of the half and half in a mixing bowl and whisk in slowly the 3 tbs of flour. Whisk this one cup half and half and flour mixture in to the soup. Mix and stir for one minute, then add the remaining 3 cups of half and half and mix well. Bring to boil again and quickly turn down to simmer for another 10-20 minuets. Keep after the bottom of the pan with a whisk so it does not burn. The soup should be creamy, if you like it thick, then just simmer a bit longer. (4-6 people, or 4 as a main meal). ◆ 27 LANDSKAPS STOCKHOLM Flera ekonomer har varnat för att kulturen inte är någon fredad zon när konjunkturen störtdyker. Nu meddelar konstmässan “Art Sthlm”, som skulle ha hållits i mars på Kistamässan, att det inte blir någon mässa i år. Orsaken är det ekonomiska läget. Höstens konjunkturfall har gjort det svårt för mässan att hålla kvaliteten uppe. Efter 28 år i Sollentuna beslutade konstmässan i fjol att flytta till den rymligare Kistamässan. Där erbjöds dubbelt så stora lokaler och högre i tak. Meningen var att flytten skulle innebära en nystart och en möjlighet att locka de unga generationerna av konstnärer och konstintresserade. Årets mässa skulle ha inriktning mot samtida nordisk konst. Det är inte säker att konstmässan blir av ens 2010. Det beror på hur den ekonomiska situationen ser ut senare i år. Sthig Jonasson GÖTEBORG Miljödomstolen i Vänersborg säger nej till förslaget att bygga en ny gång- och cykel- bro över Göta älv i centrala Göteborg. Bron stör enligt domstolen bland annat fartygstrafiken på Göta älv. Miljödomstolen säger att Vänertrafiken är ett riksintresse, till skillnad från Göteborgs önskan att binda ihop och utveckla centrum norr och söder om älven. Förslaget har debatterats i flera år och är mycket kontroversiellt. Framförallt anses kostnaden på 450 miljoner av många som orimligt hög för en förbindelse som kan skötas av ett par färjor för bråkdelen av kostnaden. De flesta remissinstanserna har varit negativa till förslaget, men åsikterna bland göteborgarna är delade. DALARNA Isbjörnen Knut på Berlins Zoo, kan bli svensk. Orsa björnpark bekräftar att man i cirka ett års tid har fört samtal med Berlins Zoo, Europeiska djurparksföreningen och isbjörnskoordinatorn i Amsterdam om att få kändisnallen. som affischnamn för parkens nya isbjörnsanläggning på fyra hektar som väntas slå upp portarna i maj. I isbjörnssats- ningen ingår också en informationskampanj för tio miljoner kronor om den utrotningshotade arten. Berlins Zoo kan tänka sig att flytta sin stora publikmagnet bland annat för att Knut ska få möjlighet att träffa en hona. Men trots att den lille vita pälsbollen vuxit upp till en grådaskig bortskämd jättebjörn har tankarna på att flytta Knut utlöst en proteststorm bland Berlinborna. De tog Knut till sitt hjärta när han avvisades av mamman Tosca och föddes upp av människor för två år sedan. HALLAND Byn Dansbygget utanför Hishult kommer i framtiden att ligga inklämd mellan två vindkraftsparker. Kraftbolaget vill lösa in fastigheter för att bygga ihop parkerna. Några bybor har nappat på erbjudandet, andra kämpar emot med näbbar och klor. För att bevaka utvecklingen å invånarnas vägnar bildades Hishults vindkraftskommitté förra året. Kommittén har protesterat mot byggnationen. Byborna är rädda för ljudet, NYHETERNA vibrationerna och för att landskapsbilden ska förändras. De är också rädda för att bygden ska utarmas. Det har gjorts JOanmälningar och anmälningar till miljödomstolen. Men erfarenheten från andra håll i Sverige visar att få överklaganden får gehör i högre instans. JÄMTLAND Strömsunds kommun gjorde inget fel och slipper betala skadestånd till den lärare som nekades jobbet som textillärare 1999 för att kommunen i stället anställde en obehörig. Det har Högsta domstolen beslutat. Tidigare hade hovrätten beslutat att kvinnan hade rätt till skadestånd. Eftersom hon i princip varit utan jobb sedan hon nekades tjänsten krävde hon minst en halv miljon kronor av kommunen. Högsta domstolen gav emellertid kommunen rätt. Skollagen syftar till att tillgodose elevernas intresse av god undervisning. Det ger inte en behörig lärare automatisk rätt till en tjänst, inte ens om det inte finns någon annan sökande, anser domstolen. MEDELPAD Läkarna på rättspsykiatriska regionkliniken i Sundsvall arbetar två dagar i veckan men får betalt för heltid. Om psykiatrerna vistas i den här miljön alltför länge utan rekreation riskerar man att bli psykiskt deformerad, säger verksamhetschefen Erik Söderberg. Till skillnad från läkarna arbetar övrig vårdpersonal på kliniken - sjuksköterskor och vårdare - fulltid. Läkarna kan tack vare sina tvådagarsveckor få dubbla löner. Även om de förväntas vara tillgängliga på telefon den tid de inte befinner sig på kliniken, finns det inget som hindrar dem från att arbeta någon annanstans. I Sverige finns det sex rättspsykiatriska regionkliniker. Utöver RPK i Sundsvall finns det kliniker i Växjö, Vadstena, Karsudden, Säter och Umeå. Men det är bara på kliniken i Sundsvall som läkarna jobbar två dagar i veckan och får betalt för fulltid. NORRBOTTEN Den 1 mars träder en ny lag i kraft som tvingar de mackägare som säljer minst 1 000 kubikmeter motordrivmedel att erbjuda kunderna ett förnybart alternativ. För små mackar är det en tung nyinvestering på minst 250 000 för att skaffa en pump för E85 (etanol). Norrländska Socialdemo- Swedish Press March 2009 kraten rapporterar om ett kreativt försök att runda kravet på etanolpump. Mackägaren Roger Bergdahl i Korpilombolo erbjuder kunderna helt enkelt en vedsäck som förnybart bränslealternativ. Han konstaterar att det inte står något i lagen om vilken typ av bränsle det måste vara så han satsar på ved till gengasdrivna fordon. Kundunderlaget för både etanol- och gengasdrivna fordon är minimalt på orten med 500 invånare och 1 000 personer i närområdet. Frågan är om byråkraterna accepterar Bergdahls okonventionella lösning på bränsleproblemet, eller om de hotar med ett vitesföreläggande för att förhindra att flera börjar med vedsäckar. Många ägare till små mackar väntar med spänning på statens svar. Sthig Jonasson SKÅNE Duktiga elever lika med högre lön till lärarna. Det blir ett nytt koncept i Trelleborgs gymnasieskolor om den lokala styrande borgerliga alliansen får som den vill. Man föreslår en koppling mellan resultaten i de nationella proven och lärarnas löner. Det handlar om att belöna dem som utför uppdraget bäst. Förslaget går ut på att man jämför hur eleverna har klarat de nationella proven i nian och hur det går i motsvarande prov på gymnasiet för att se om det finns någon trend åt något hall. SMÅLAND Allt färre tyskar vill ha fritidshus i Sverige. Merparten, cirka 90 procent, av de tyskar som en gång köpte hus i Småland är nu borta. I stället har danskar, och till viss del holländare, tagit över de småländska stugorna. SÖDERMANLAND Mängder av döda råttor och möss. Två burar fulla med krälande kackerlackor. Och ett hundratal ormar – levande och döda. Inspektionen som polis, veterinär och kommun gjorde i en fastighet i Gnesta häromdagen får betecknas som minst sagt udda. Gnagarna tycks ha dött av vatten- och matbrist eller eventuellt frusit ihjäl. Ormarna, majoriteten kungspytonormar, hade lämnats i plastbackar och terrarier, även de utan mat och vatten. De flesta levde, men flera var i mycket dåligt skick. Omkring 20 stycken hade inte klarat påfrestningarna och dött. Hyresgästerna ska ha lämnat fastigheten redan i december. Det var när ägaren av fastigheten skulle försäkra sig om att de verkligen var borta som hon upptäckte djuren och slog larm till kommunen. Paret eftersöks nu av polisen. VÄSTMANLAND Församlingen i Fläckebo i Sala kommun har i fyra års tid försökt att få sätta upp solceller på kyrktaket. Solenergin skulle göra kyrkan självförsörjande. Efter många turer togs frågan till slut upp i Regeringsrätten, där resultatet blev negativt. Motståndet har legat hos Riksantikvarieämbetet, som anser att anläggningen inte passar in i den historiska miljön. VÄSTERBOTTEN Två polismän i Umeå hörde häromkvällen upprepade kvinnoskrik från ett rum på Hotell Gamla Fängelset. Raskt beslutade de att göra husrannsakan och bröt upp dörren. Bakom den mötte de Norrlandsoperans gästande kör från Sydafrika. Medlemmarna lagade mat och umgicks och en av operasångerskorna gjorde en kortare övning inför kollegerna. Enligt Västerbottens-Kuriren turades de uppskrämda afrikanska gästerna under natten om att hålla vakt vid den av ordningsmakten uppbrutna dörren. Translation?! Email [email protected] for a Free monthly SweMail translation of the Swedish parts of Swedish Press. 29 SwedenNow JustNu CdMåste MustSki The world's best ski resort is not Aspen, Verbier or Whistler, according to the authoritative Condé Nast travel magazine. It is Åre (above) in Sweden. The charming town started off as a copper mining village but is, today, Sweden's most popular ski resort with world-class slopes for all levels. For the ultimate accomodation you can’t beat the brand new 5 star 112-room ski-in/skiout Copperhill Mountain Lodge (design hotels.com) with magnificent views and its own Copperhill Express lift to the slopes. There is also the luxurious Sami-themed Spa where you can order everything from a classic massage to the Samezen. A bit further south, Sweden's oldest mountain hotel Fjällnäs (fjallnasreserve. com), that received its first guests in 1881, now also has a brand new Sami Spa called Mii Gullo (which means How Do You Feel?). Here you can try everything from the Tjåkkå classic full body massage to the Jávvras foot massage,that gets you prepared for a new full day of skiing. New York Times fell so much in love with Fjällnäs that it listed it as the 6th best travel destination 2009, beating Doha, Chicago and Venice. MustSee Throughout this year you can see an exhibit about Sweden's first superstar Jenny Lind (1820-1887) at Musikmuseet (Sibyllegatan 2 in Stockholm, musikmuseet.se). There are no recordings but you can see Jenny Lind’s first stage costume when she was only ten (and read the glowing review) as well as other belongings, plus the merchandise (like the cut out doll right) that she inspired. 30 Alice Babs genombrott blev ett av 1900-talets mest sensationella i Sverige och det följdes av en karriär som världsartist. Alice Babs föddes 1924 som Alice Hildur Nilsson i Kalmar, Babs är hennes artistnamn. När Alice Babs firade sin 85 årsdag den 26 januari kunde hon se tillbaka på en enastående karriär där hon samarbetat med de flesta namnkunniga musiker och artister som verkat under 1900-talet, bl.a. Duke Ellington som hon hade ett mångårigt samarbete. Förhistorien till samarbetet BabsEllington är också den rätt märklig: Frank Sinatra var en stor beundrare av Alice Babs och när han blev artistchef för skivbolaget Reprise erbjöd han Duke Ellington att spela in 10 LP-album med olika solister. Den första Ellington valde var Alice Babs och 1963 spelade de in albumet Serenade to Sweden, därefter samarbetade de många år där Ellington bl.a. skrev två kyrkokonserter som var anpassade till Alice Babs stora röstomfång. Lagom till 85-årsdagen kom en ny cd (ovan, och i ett speciellt Swedish Press erbjudande på sidan 36) med tidigare outgivna inspelningar från 1960–69. På den sjunger Alice Babs med Bengt Hallberg Trio och Arne Domnérus Big Band där Svend Asmussen medverkar med en tidens nymodighet: el-fiol med wah wah-pedal. Skivan har 14 spår med låtar som How deep is the Ocean, Flamingo och As time goes by. Musiken lyser och skimrar av Alice Babs alldeles rena och klara sång parad med lekfullhet och musikalisk intelligens. En cd för musikälskare. Sthig Jonasson The Åre Ski resort, Alice Babs Jubilee Edition & Jenny Lind Superstar Must Art Prince Eugen's Waldemarsudde (waldemarsudde.se) is a wonderful home, museum, art gallery and park on the island of Djurgården that should be a must-see for every visitor to Stockholm. This is especially true between February 28 and May 31 when the Gallery is showing some 100 works by the painter Carl Larsson as well as part of the correspondence between him and his friend, the painting Prince. This is a unique opportunity for all fans of Carl Larsson to see not only some of his best works but also many of his less known works. MåsteLäsa Jan-Ewert Strömbäck (som skrivit SistaOrdet på sidan 34) har kommit ut med en både poetisk och praktisk bok kallad Min farbror blev svenskamerikan (till höger, LLförlaget, ISBN 9789170532153) om hur han gav sig av till USA för att söka sanningen om släkten på andra sidan Atlanten. Den lättlästa och rikt illustrerade boken ger också tips om hur man kommer igång med släktforskning och hittar sina rötter. MustExchange Approximate Exchange Rates SEK 1 = USD 0.13 SEK 1 = CAD 0.16 Swedish Press March 2009 Calendar GUIDE TO INTERESTING AND FUN EVENTS IN SWEDISH NORTH AMERICA - AT A GLANCE ATLANTA Mar 22 6pm - Landscape Dinner, featuring Gotland at St. Luke Lutheran Church, 3264 Northside Pkwy. $10/person or $20/family. Info 770-949-6667. Apr 25 5pm - Valborgsmässoafton with bonfire and lots of food at Lutherwood Campground on Lake Allatona, Sandtown Rd, Acworth. Vasa Drängar will perform the traditional Swedish spring songs. $5/person or $10/family. Info 770-422-9120. Jun 6 7pm - Swedish National Day Celebration at Math. & Science Center at Emory University, 400 Dowman Dr. Vasa Drängar will perform. Info 404-695-5212. CALGARY Apr 25 - Anna Runesson, Swedish Church, Toronto at Scandinavian Centre. Workshop and church service. Info 403-931-0370. May 23 - Swedish Society Spring Dinner. 403-931-0370. CHICAGO -Mar 15 - Exhibit “Colors of Nature: Oils & Watercolors” by Siv Lindgren at Swedish American Museum, 5211 N Clark St. Info 773-728-8111. DELAWARE Apr 4 6pm - Kalmar Nyckel Foundation's 3rd King Neptune Gala honoring U.S. Senator Thomas R. Carper at Greenville Country Club. $150, $125 members. Info 302-429-7447. GEORGIA Apr 20-22 - Swedish American Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneurial Days at Savannah Marriott Riverfront, 100 General McIntosh Blvd., Savannah. Info 1 703 836 6560. HALIFAX Apr 5 2pm - Palm Sunday/Easter Service with readings and hymns in the five Nordic languages at Grace Lutheran Church, 40 Caldwell Rd, Dartmouth. Info 902-4653069. Apr 26 1.30-5.30pm - Scandinavian Society of Nova Scotia Annual General Meeting at Christ Church Hall, 64 Dundas St. Dartmouth. 456-5611. MICHIGAN Mar 21 3pm - Semmelfest at Work Play Space in the Atomic Object Building, 941 Wealthy St SE. Grand Rapids. Info www.sahswm.org. MINNEAPOLIS -Mar 29 - Exhibit “Radian Knits: The Bohus Tradition” at American Swedish Institute. 612-871-4907. Swedish Press March 2009 BOHUS KNITS The exhibit Radiant Knits: The Bohus Tradition, on display at the American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis focuses on the history of the Swedish Bohus knitting style and the Bohus Stickning industry (1939–1969), and features original garments knitted in the Bohus style. This is the first time that Bohus couture garments have been on exclusive exhibit in the U.S. since the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. The Bohus Stickning organization came into existence in the province of Bohuslän during the Depression era of the 1930s. The Bohuslän quarries had been particularly hard hit resulting in high unemployment and hardship. A group of women from the north of Bohuslän sent a deputation to the governor´s wife, Emma Jacobsson in Gothenburg, asking her to to take the initiative for a home-based industry. This was how Bohus Stickning was started in 1939. -May 31 - Exhibit “Reflected Splendor: Nordic Art Glass and its Regional Influence” at ASI. 612-871-4907. -Jun 14 - Exhibit “Expressions of Stability and Change: Ethnic Dress and Folk Costumes” featuring costumes from Scandinavia at Goldstein Museum of Design, University of Minnesota, 241 McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Ave, St Paul. 612-624-6434. Mar 4 6-9pm - Intensive workshop focusing on Swedish in social settings for all levels at ASI. $35, $30 members. 612-871-4907. Mar 12 6pm - Lecture “The Re-Invention of Scandinavian Folk Dress in the 19th century” at Goldstein Museum of Design, St Paul. 612-624-7434. Apr 22 7pm - Lecture “The Works of Swedish Artist Gustaf Fjaetad (1868-1948)” at American Swedish Institute, 2600 Park Knitting courses were organized all over the countryside. Patterns were developed - at first by Emma Jacobsson herself - and later by professional designers. The earliest products were plain gloves and socks in strong wool yarn. Gradually fine wools and angora-blends of the highest quality were incorporated in the knitwear and eventually "Bohus Knitting" expanded into the production of exclusive handicraft. In the fifties Bohus Knitting was at the height of its production and was in the forefront whenever Swedish handicrafts were to be shown internationally. Export to the US and other countries was extensive. In Sweden a Bohus jumper or twin-set was a must for the welldressed woman´s wardrobe. The number of knitters employed diminished in the sixties in step with the economic climate in Bohuslän improving. Also the knitting patterns had become so intricate and the wool so delicate that many of the knitters found the work too difficult. Production ceased in 1969. Bohus has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years. Contributing to this have been the publication of the book Poems of Color (left) by Wendy Keel and the recreation of Bohus patterns and yarn by Solveig Gustafsson. Radiant Knits: The Bohus Tradition is on at the American Swedish Institute until March 29. The address is 2600 Park Avenue. For further information call 612-871-4907. Ave. Info 612-871-4907. Apr 23 6pm - Lecture “Somali Immigrants in Minnesota and Sweden: Cultural Authenticity and Economic Dynamism” at Goldstein Museum of Design, St Paul. Info 612-624-6434. May 27 7pm - Lecture “Sweden, Peace and Conflict Resolution” at ASI. 612-871-4907. MINNESOTA Mar 13 7.30pm - Film “The Falun Røros Expedition” depicting a historic journey with horse and sled from Sweden to Norway. Nordic Heritage Club, Victoria. Info: nordicheritageclub.googlepages.com. Jun12, 13 - Nisswa-stämman, folk music festival 10th anniversary. NEW YORK -Mar 29 - Henrik Ibsen's classic Hedda Gabler with a cast featuring Peter Stormare, one of Sweden's most accomplished actors, at American Airlines Theatre, 227 West 42 St. 212.719.1300 -Apr 4 - Exhibit “Beyond the Words”, a retrospective of author portraits by Swedish artist Carl Köhler (1919-2006) at Foyer Gallery Cases, Central Library 10, Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn. www. brooklynpubliclibrary.org. Mar 9 - The John Ericsson Society Monitor Day celebration. www.johnericsson.org. Mar 12 7.30pm - Concert in honor of Victor Borge: With Per Tengstrand & Magnus Mårtensson at Scandinavia House. $25 ($17 ASF members). (212) 879-9779. Apr 20 7.30pm - The Scandinavian Chamber Orchestra - Stenhammar & His Time at Scandinavia House. $25, $17 members. (212) 879-9779. ➢➢➢ 31 Ads&Info SWEDISH PRESS CLASSIFIEDS - THE FAST AND INEXPENSIVE WAY TO BUY, SELL OR TELL ➢➢➢ Apr 23 7.30pm - Scandinavian Chamber Orchestra Piano Performance at Scandinavia House. (212) 879-9779. Apr 30 7pm - Northern Transmissions 2 program of music videos from across the Nordic region at Scandinavia House. $9 ($6 ASF members). (212) 879-9779 May 16 - Scandinavian East Coast Museum Viking Fest. 718-748-5950 PHILADELPHIA -May 10 - New Art Installation Explores the Sights and Sounds of a Small Swedish Farm at The American Swedish Historical Museum, 1900 Pattison Ave. 215-3891776. PORTLAND Mar 1 2pm - New Sweden Cultural Heritage Society annual meeting at Fogelbo. (503) 454-0135. SAN FRANCISCO -Apr 12 - Exhibit “Irreverent; Contemporary Nordic Craft Art” at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Info (415) 978-2700. SEATTLE -Apr 5 - Exhibit “Knitting Along the Viking Trail” - Viking designs by Elsebeth Lavold, Sweden’s premier knitwear designer, artist and instructor. Through meticulous study of patterns of ornamentation of Scandinavian craftsmen of the Iron Age, including the Viking era, Elsebeth Lavold has adapted them to exquisite hand-knitted garments that will be displayed in the exhibit. Where the inspiration comes from can also be seen in the many Viking age objects that are shown in the form of photos, drawings and replicas, ranging in size from minute pieces of jewelry to huge rock carvings. Nordic Heritage Museum, 3104 NW 67th St. Info 206-789-5707. Mar 1 8am-1.30pm - Swedish Pancake breakfast at Swedish Cultural Center, 1920 Dexter Ave N. Music by Speldosan, NW Pelimannit and Katrilli. Info (206) 2831090. Mar 1 1pm - Swedish Genealogy 101 at Swedish Cultural Center. Free. 206-2831090. Mar 4, 11, 18 7.30-9pm - Scandinavian Basics Dance Classes at Room 2, Upper Building, Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Ave N. 206-784-7470. Mar 5 1.30pm - Lecture “Katharsis for TwoYear Olds: From Aristotle to the Puppet Theatre Tittut” by Anne-Charlotte Harvey at University of Washington. 206-543-0645. Mar 5, 12, 19 7.30-9pm - Scandinavian Beyond Basics Dance Classes at Room 2, Upper Building, Phinney Neighborhood 32 Center, 6532 Phinney Ave N. $8, $6 members. 206-784-7470. Mar 13-15 - Nordic Knitting Conference led by internationally-acclaimed knitting experts from the US and Scandinavia at Nordic Heritage Museum. Festive banquet on March 14. Conference registration is $35 for members and $40 for non-members. Classes are $110 for full day (6 hours) or $60 for half day (3 hours). Banquet: $35. Info 206-789-5707. Mar 28 - A Swedish Day for Kids at Nordic Heritage Museum. Breakfast at Pippi’s from 10-11:30am. $6 for adults, $4 for children (age 4-12), free for children 3 and under. Family viewing of one of the original Pippi Longstocking movies (dubbed in English!) starring Inger Nilsson 12-1:30pm. 206789-5707. Apr 1 10-11am - Nordic springtime celebration for children at Nordic Heritage Museum. Free. 206-789-5707. May 3 5pm - Romance of Strings: Odeonquartet will present two fragrant bouquets from the Swedish landscape. The program includes Oscar Byström’s String Quartet in C minor & Intermezzo and Johan Lindegren’s String Quintet in F major for String Quartet and Viola at Nordic Heritage Museum. $25 concert, $45 concert and smörgåsbord. (206) 789-5707. THOUSAND OAKS Apr 18-19 10am-5pm - Scandinavian Festival at CLU. 805-241-0391. TORONTO Mar 6 6:30pm - Soup Night at Scandinavian Canadian Club, 91 Stormont Ave. Info 416-782-4604. Mar 23 7pm - Scandinavian Canadian Club Annual General Meeting at 91 Stormont Ave. 416-782-4604. Mar 28 - Påskbasar i Agricolakyrkan. 416496-7907. VANCOUVER Feb 28 & Mar 1 11am-4pm - Nordic Art & Photography Show & Sale at Scandinavian Centre. Info 604-294-2777. Mar 3 4-5pm - Lecture “Fiction for All Ages: Cross-Writing and Cross-Reading in Scandinavian Literature” in the Social Lounge, St. John’s College, 2111 Lower Mall, UBC. Free. www.cenes.ubc.ca Mar 11 - Scandinavian Business Club Dinner Meeting 6:30pm cocktail hour; 7pm dinner at Scandinavian Centre. Info 604 528 9290. Mar 13 noon -Scandinavian Seniors 55+ Luncheon at Scandinavian Centre. Bring a plate of sandwiches or cakes/slices to share & pay $2 towards coffee and expenses. 604-294-2777. Mar 21 1pm - Genealogy Advice specifically on the Nordic countries at Scandinavian Centre. $2 drop-in fee includes coffee. Info 604 439 9202. Mar 22 - Viking Ship Annual Fundraising Pork Dinner at Scandinavian Centre. 4pm cocktails; 5pm dinner. $25. Info 604 939 9521. Apr 16 7pm - Annual General Meeting of the Scandinavian Community Centre Society at 6540 Thomas St, Burnaby. Info 604-2942777. Apr 18 1pm - Genealogy session at Scandinavian Centre. Info 604-526-1233. Apr 26 4 pm - Anna Runesson, Swedish Church, Toronto holds a church service at the Danish Church, 6010 Kincaid Avenue in Burnaby. Info 416-486-0466. May 23 - Swedish Society Spring Dinner. 403-931-0370. May 1 8pm - The Thing Scandinavian threesome featuring Swedish sax player Mats Gustafsson, Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten perform at The Ironworks. Info 604-872-5200. May 9 - Swedish Presss Celebrates 80 Years with a banquet and entertainment at Scandinavian Centre (See ad on page 8). May 16 1pm - Genealogy session at Scandinavian Centre. Info 604-526-1233. May 30 - European Festival at Scandinavian Centre. Info 604-294-2777. Jun 20-21 - Midsummer Festival at Scandinavian Centre. Info 604-294-2777. Sep 19 1pm - Genealogy session at Scandinavian Centre. 604-526-1233. Oct 24 1pm - Genealogy session at Scandinavian Cente. 604-526-1233. Nov 28 1pm - Genealogy session at Scandinavian Centre. 604-526-1233. VICTORIA -May 11 - Exhibit “The Vikings: Master Mariners, Traders, Colonists and Artisans” at Maritime Museum, 28 Bastion Square. Info 250-385-4222. WASHINGTON Mar 6 - Lecture "Värmlänningarna [The People of Värmland]: Performing Swedishness-But for Whom?" by Anne-Charlotte Harvey in Gig Harbor. Nordic Study Circle lecture series. Info nordicstudycircle.org. Sweden at Scandinavian Centre. Info 7748047. Mar 7 - Scandinavian Centre 25th anniversary celebration at 764 Erin St. Info 7748047. SCA COFFEE NIGHTS - Third Thursday of every month. Programs TBA. March 19th, April 16th, May 21st. WISCONSIN Mar 14 1.30pm - Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin welcomes you to a presentation of "Swedish Music in My Life" at Redemption Lutheran Church, 4057 N. Mayfair Rd., Wauwatosa. Info 414352-7890. CALGARY ORG. SVENSKA SKOLAN i Calgary bedriver undervisning för barn 3-15 år gamla på lördagar kl 9.30-12. Alla barn är välkomna. Undervisningen sker på svenska. Kontakta Svenska Skolan genom Scandinavian Center 403-284-2610 eller skicka epost till [email protected]. Läs mer om vår skola på www.swedishschool.com B.C. ORGANIZATIONS CONSULATE OF SWEDEN Tuesday & Friday 9am-12noon, 1-3pm or by appointment. #1480-1188 West Georgia Street. (604) 683-5838. THE RUNEBERG CHOIR meets Wednesday nights at 7 pm at the Swedish Canadian Resthome, Burnaby. Everyone welcome. Call Dianne Kilback 604-294-3715. SCANDINAVIAN BUSINESS CLUB meets every second Wednesday of the month. New members welcome. Phone Ben Marklund 604-524-2915. THE SCANDINAVIAN CENTRE 6540 Thomas St., Burnaby, B.C. V5B 4P9. 604294-2777. SVENSKA KULTURFÖRENINGEN Ordf. Yvonne Spence, 604 980 8866. Kassör Åsa Eidelöf 1937 Rufus Dr. N. Vancouver, B.C. V7J 3L8 604-988-9882. Läs månadens program i "Vad Händer?" WASHINGTON DC Apr 16-19 - SWEA International Världsmöte. www.swea.org SVENSKA SKOLAN en gång i veckan för barn mellan 3 och 14 år. Ordförande Christer Hollberg 604-738-8294, Adm. Eva Andersson 604-921-1580. WINNIPEG Mar 1 11am-1.30pm - Brunch hosted by SWEDEN HOUSE SOCIETY President Astrid Switzer 604-228-9160,, Vice- Swedish Press March 2009 Ads&Info SWEDISH PRESS CLASSIFIEDS - THE FAST AND INEXPENSIVE WAY TO BUY, SELL OR TELL President Jan-Wilhelm Sköllsberg, Treasurer Håkan Telenius 604-922-7997, Secretary Dorothy Carlson 604-325-1512. SWEDISH CANADIAN CLUB 1800 Duthie Ave., Burnaby, B.C. V5A 2R8 President Karin Trygg, Vice-President Ulla Fagerberg, Secretary Dorothy Carlson, Treasurer MaryJoan Giffin, Social Director Sven Svensk SWEA - Swedish Womens Educational Association. Du, svensktalande kvinna. Kom med i SWEA. Vi träffas en gång i månaden för att ha kul, lära nytt och prata svenska. Kontakta Ingmari Bysse 604-6898090 eller Gun Pennink 604-921-9903. Besök oss på www.chapters-swea.org /vancouver/. SWEDISH CANADIAN VILLAGE - Swedish Canadian Manor and Gustav Vasa Place at 1800 Duthie Avenue in Burnaby, B.C. V5A 2R4 604-420-3222 provides re-tirement apartments, beautiful grounds. Just steps from the bus. Enquiries welcome. Adm. Karin Trygg 604-420-3222 Swedish Canadian Resthome Association President Erik Nordholm. SWEDISH CLUB OF VICTORIA meets the third Friday monthly. Contact Christina Wallin (250) 656-6040 or Annabelle Beresford (250) 656-9586. Saturday Swedish lessons for children 4-7 9:30 11:00am at Norway House, 1118 Hillside Ave. Info (250) 389-0079. www.victoriaswedishclub.ca VICTORIA B.C. ORG. NORDIC HERITAGE MUSEUM in Seattle, 3104 N.W. 67th St., Ballard 206-789-5707 Open Tuesday - Saturday 10 am - 4 pm, Monday closed. WASHINGTON ORG. SWEDISH CULTURAL CENTER, 1920 Dexter Ave., N, Seattle, Wa 98109; Tel. (206) 283-1090. Open Mon-Sat. Catering available for all events. INFORMATION SWEDES VISITING U.S.A. Important Information for Swedish Citizens visiting the U.S.A. from Sweden. The Electronic System for Travel Authority (ESTA). became mandatory on January 12, 2009. This system requires nationals from Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries to apply online for advance authorization before using the VWP to travel to the USA. ESTA authorization will be valid for two Swedish Press March 2009 years or until the applicant's passport expires, whichever date comes first. VWP travelers who do not have ESTA authorization will not be allowed to board a U.S.bound aircraft or ship. There is no charge to use the ESTA system. An ESTA application may be completed online at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov. Once the application is submitted, the applicant should receive a response within seconds. The responses range from, Authorization Approved (applicant's travel is authorized), to Travel Not Authorized (applicant must obtain a non-immigrant visa at a U.S. Embassy/Consulate before traveling to the U.S.), to Authorization Pending (applicant will need to check the ESTA website for updates within 72 hours for a final response). Instructions on how to obtain an electronic travel authorization are available in 13 additional languages: Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Slovene, Spanish and Swedish. For further information on ESTA, please visit: http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/ travel/id_visa/esta/esta_tear_sheet.ctt/esta _tear_sheet.pdf JA, I would like to Subscribe! 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CITY ZIP/POSTAL CODE Mail coupon with cheque, VISA or M/C card information to Swedish Press, Box 4302, Blaine, WA 98231, USA or 1294 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver BC V6H 1B6 Canada or fax to 604-731-2292. Or subscribe at 33 www.nordicway.com or call Toll Free 1-866-882-0088 Jan-Ewert Strömbäck KARL OSKAR VAR INGEN TYPISK UTVANDRARE TILL AMERIKA. Ibland blir romanoch film-gestalter så starka bilder att sanningen skyms. Än idag dominerar uppfattningen att Vilhelm Mobergs Karl Oskar och Kristina var typiska svenska utvandrare som sökte en bit jord. I själva verket kom de flesta utvandrarna från staden. När massemigrationen från Sverige till Amerika kommer på tal – i medier, på seminarier, i debatter och även i samtal svenskar och svenskamerikaner emellan – vilar Vilhelm Mobergs ande tung över historieskrivningen. Bilden av emigrationen som huvudsakligen en angelägenhet för jordens döttrar och söner lever kvar. Detta trots att det faktiskt var andra grupper som dominerade emigrationsströmmarna, åtminstone från år 1870: tjänstefolk, entreprenörer och arbetare. Karl Oskar och Kristina var inga typiska utvandrare. Ändå gör till och med dagens debattörer, om papperslösa och asylsökande, gärna kopplingar till Vilhelm Mobergs båda gestalter: Karl Oskar och Kristina var ju välkomna, då bör också vi välkomna dem som vill komma hit, lyder argumentationen. Parallellen haltar i flera avseenden. Amerikafararna var inte papperslösa, utan värvade och med nödiga handlingar försedda. Och varför jämföra med två jord arbetets emigranter istället för med urbaniserade arbetare, vilka var vanligare på båtarna över Atlanten? Svenska historiker och ekonomhistoriker har sedan 1960-talet försökt slå hål på den missvisande Moberg-bilden. Utan framgång. Möjligen kan den senaste insatsen i den vägen ändra på förhållandet - historikern Jimmy Engrens doktorsavhandling Railroading and Labor Migration: Class and Ethnicity in Expanding Capitalism in 34 SistaOrdet/LastWord Northern Minnesota – The 1880s to the Mid 1920s (Växjö University Press, 440 s). Jimmy Engren har en helt annan utgångspunkt än att den typiske utvandraren från Sverige till Amerika var en torpare eller dräng som drömde om en bit egen jord. Han utgår från utvandrade arbetare, och dokumenterar hur svenskar som var med och byggde järnväg i USA sakta men säkert amerikaniserades; i järnvägssamhället Two Harbors tog svenska socialister makten år 1911. I detta samhälle i norra Minnesota uppstod en folkrörelsepräglad motkultur. Enligt Engrens studie av järnvägsföretaget Duluth & Iron Range Railroad och den svenska gruppen (29 procent svenskfödda personer av 5000 invånare) blev arbetsplatsen det viktigaste mötet för europeiska immigranter, inte minst svenskar, och en motor i amerikaniseringen. Engren har analyserat officiella folkräkningar och företagets tillvägagångssätt för att amerikanisera arbetarna, något som bland annat skedde med hjälp av en KFUM-avdelning. Anläggningsarbetarna lyckades skapa en arbetaroffentlighet med svenska förtecken. Det fanns till och med en Verdandiloge. I Minnesota levde redan på 1870-talet en stor grupp svenskar som gick mellan olika arbeten. Under 1880-talet var det vanligt med korta, mobila jobb som lantarbete, järnvägsarbete och skogshuggning. År 1910 blev en förändring tydlig. Några svenska lokförare tillhörde arbetararistokratin på järnvägarna, men i stort var arbetarna förpassade till järnmalmsdockorna. Enligt Engren var det vanligt att utvandrare från Tyskland uppgav farmare som yrke utan att vara det. Det var det de ville bli, men på plats i det nya landet fick de andra jobb och måste ibland, liksom flyktingar och utvandrare i vår tid, försörja sig på flera olika jobb. År 1920 hade den svenska gruppen blivit ytterligare diversifierad. Första generationen invandrare hade liten social rörlighet. Invandrarnas barn, däremot, som kom att gå i amerikansk skola och tillägna sig andra kunskaper än generationen innan, fick lättare jobb på kontor. Själv har jag funderat mycket över den svenskamerikanske arbetarens brist på eftermäle på den här sidan Atlanten. Det måste finnas fler förklaringar än att Vilhelm Mobergs grandiosa epos har fått överskugga alla försök till mer urbana analyser. En studie med psykologins redskap återstår att göra. I väntan på en sådan kan en hypotes vara att också svenska emigranter gjorde som tyska, titulerade sig som farmare utan att vara det. När jag reste i norra delen av staten New York och södra Michigan för ett par år sedan, och umgicks dag och natt med svensk-ättlingar, såg jag efter en tid mycket tydligt hur människor led av brist på självförtroende och en stukad självkänsla. De var barn och barnbarn till emigranter från Sverige som hade hoppats på att i bästa fall nå framgång, i annat fall uppleva välgång. När immigranterna blev arbetslösa i stället för arbetare, eller arbetare istället för företagare, uteblev de stolta hälsningarna hem till Sverige. Detsamma tycktes gälla de barn och barnbarn som inte heller hade lyckats förverkliga konstitutionens rätt till individuell lycka, utan fortsatte tillverka möbler i Jamestown eller montera bildelar i Detroit. I det perspektivet skulle alltså en för klaring till den eviga bondebilden vara att varken utvandrarna, när de väl var på plats, eller deras barn och barnbarn fann någon anledning att förmedla en annan bild. Varför skryta med att vara arbetare när det bara är andra arbetare som imponeras? Och varför skryta med att vara från Sverige när också alla andra kommer från något annat land än USA? För att förstå den svenskamerikanska kulturen och livsstilen är det befogat att påminna om den tidiga bakgrunden till uppkomsten av detta land med dess lapptäcke av minoriteter. För Sveriges del startade massemigrationen år 1869, men det fanns svenskar over there långt tidigare. Redan på 1600-talet grundades den svenska kolonin Nya Sverige vid Delaware-floden nära den plats där staden Philadelphia ligger i dag. För att stormakten Sverige skulle kunna exportera svenska produkter till Amerika såg rikskanslern Axel Oxenstierna till att Nya Sverige blev verklighet. Kolonisatörerna var i viss mening jordens och markens nybyggare, men det vore ändå att göra våld på sanningen att beskriva dem som tidiga föregångare till Karl Oskar och Kristina. Det är lika relevant att se dem som den tidens handlare och affärsmän. I kolonin handlade människor från Sverige med tobak, som de odlade på plats, och skinn av bäver, utter och björn som de bytte till sig från indianerna. De svenskar som färdades med båt till kolonin Swedish Press March 2009 i den nya världen led svårt. Båtar sjönk till botten, människor blev strandsatta och dog av törst och förgiftning. De som lyckades bosätta sig där hjälpte till att bygga kyrkor och delta i handel och jordbruksarbete. De flesta människor som hamnade i Nya Sverige kom inte dit frivilligt, utan tvingades dit av den svenska regeringen som ett straff för att de hade deserterat från krigsmakten eller gjort något annat brott. De mångfasetterade och flerdimensionella inslagen i de senare vågorna av utvandring är påfallande för den som tar del av Uppsalahistorikern Fred Nilssons doktorsavhandling Emigrationen från Stockholm till Nordamerika 1880–1893. En studie i urban utvandring (1970). Den kom för snart 40 år sedan, men eftersom den aldrig lyckades göra något avtryck i det offentliga samtalet, finns det all anledning att påminna om den. Nilssons ambition var att göra upp med den förhärskande föreställningen om emigrationen som en företeelse för bönder och andra jordbrukare. Industriarbetare och handelsanställda emigrerade i störst utsträckning, konstaterade också Fred Nilsson. “Den populära föreställningen om de svenska emigranterna som en relativt homogen mängd jordbrukare ter sig förvånande.” Han förklarade den dominerande föreställningen med skillnaden i miljö mellan landsbygd och stad. På landet har minnet av bortdragande släktingar bättre bevarats i form av Amerikabrev och annat. När någon person lämnade byn och landet var detta en händelse som förevigades av fotografer, men stadens “många anonyma arbetaremigranter lämnade inga spår efter sig, och deras plats intogs snart av andra”. Det torde låta tveksamt i mångas öron. Låt vara att invånarna i städer och industriorter levde och lever mer anonymt än bybor. Men att tro att individen var utbytbar är nog en obefogad förminskning av proletären. Om inte annat hade också de urbana industriarbetarna anhöriga. En troligare förklaring till tystnaden kan vara att många utvandrare inte tyckte att det fanns någon anledning att framhålla att han eller hon kom att slita i en fabrik, och hade ett jobb som inte var mer glamoröst än det han eller hon kanske ändå förr eller senare hade fått i Sverige. Fred Nilssons nästa förklaring till mytbildningen är lättare att instämma i. Redan år 1910 utgjorde städernas andel något mer Swedish Press March 2009 än 60 procent av det totala antalet svenskfödda immigranter i USA (665 000). Svenskarna i USA:s industristäder förlorade sin identitet och amerikaniserades sannolikt snabbare än jordbruksinvandrarna, medan invandrarna höll samman i till exempel föreningsliv i farmarområden som Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas och South Dakota, något som för övrigt löper som en undertext också i Jimmy Engrens avhandling. Övriga förklaringar som Nilsson förde fram är dels Vilhelm Mobergs epos, dels 1907 års statliga emigrationsutrednings utgångspunkter. Denna utredning utgick från att stockholmares utvandring var en så kallad etappemigration, det vill säga en emigration av människor som kom från svensk landsbygd och som i en första etapp valde att bosätta sig i storstaden. Nilsson kunde emellertid slå hål på detta resonemang: visserligen var cirka hälften av de utvandrande stockholmarna födda i landsorten, främst Småland och Östergötland, men de flesta kom antingen från andra industritätorter eller hade bott så länge i Stockholm att de blivit urbaniserade. Jimmy Engren går åtskilliga steg längre än Nilsson, genom att låta frågan om interaktionen löpa som en röd tråd i sin avhandling. Medan Nilsson intresserade sig för individernas bakgrund, koncentrerar sig Engren på vad som händer i det nya landet. Även i kunskapsrika sidospår får läsaren ta del av hur amerikanisering blir ett (avsiktligt) resultat av företag och organisationer. Hit hör det arbetarskydd som USA blev föregångare med genom den tidiga rörelse – Safety First – som inspirerade till skyddsombud i Sverige. På järnvägsföretaget ledde The emigrants in Moberg’s books have given a false picture of the typical Swedish emigrant, according to Jan-Evert Strömbäck satsningen till att arbetsolyckorna minskade från 291 år 1917 till 25 år 1926. Men den som tror att företagens syfte enbart var att öka omsorgen om sin arbetskraft får en tankeställare av de avsnitt som handlar om hur också Safety First syftade till att dels öka sammanhållningen bland arbetare, dels stärka de anställdas lojalitet mot arbetsgivarna. Det hela var, om man så vill, en klasssamarbetets väg på landets uppbyggnad, men med andra uttryck än den svenska Saltsjöbadsmodellen av senare datum. När Jimmy Engren berättar hur KFUM utgjorde fundament i det civila samhället i Two Harbors, och stod för rallarnas kyrkliga, kulturella och sociala trygghet, påminns jag om min farbror. År 1927 emigrerade han och förblev en trä- och möbel industrins arbetare i Amerika. Den identiteten förde han aldrig till torgs vare sig i breven hem eller i något annat sammanhang. Varje morgon begav han sig till jobbet i kostym och slips, för att byta till arbetskläder på plats. När en strejk hindrade honom från att arbeta behöll han motvilligt kostymen på. Annat än yrket var viktigare, kanske inte KFUM, men hans kyrka. Vid de tillfällen han blev uppmanad, av fabrikörer och sina egna barn, att acceptera erbjudandena att bli förman kom det självklara svaret: “Enda gången jag kommer att stiga uppåt, blir när jag går hem till Jesus.” Jan-Ewert Strömbäck är arbetsmiljöreporter och författare bl a till Min farbror blev svenskamerikan. Att söka sina rötter (LL-förlaget, 2008, se sidan 30) 35 The ALICE BABS JUBILEE EDITION ‘ In celebration of the 85th birthday of Sweden’s most beloved and revered singer, Swedish Press presents a treasure of 28 newly discovered and previously unreleased tracks by Alice Babs, dating back to the 1960s. “The music here has Babs at her most modern working with backings from pianist Jan Johansson and the larger band of Georg Riedels - all in a style that takes off nicely from some of Alice's earlier vocal experiments with Duke Ellington! Babs' vocals are nicely cool at times, a bit warmer at others - and often she sings wordlessly with a haunting, other-worldy feel that's especially great -- and which points the way towards other European vocal jazz experiments in the decade to come” notes one critic. The 14 titles on the Red “Illusion” CD include Song For The Dreamer, Om Du Så Vill and Je Vous Aime. The mostly English titles on the Green “As Time Goes By” CD, with Bengt Hallberg Trio and Arne Domnerus Big Band, include 14 classics like Cottage For Sale and Love Is Here To Stay. “Alice has a wonderful sound here - deep, dark, and cool” ... the material is “every bit as great as any of her classics from the 60s!” The Jubilee Edition simply gives you the very best of Alice Babs’ unique voice, playfulness and musical genius. Very Special Price Only $35 for both CDs Yes, please send me ...... set/s of The Alice Babs Jubilee Edition! $35 Special Price for the set of two CDs, or buy ...... Red or ..... Green edition for only $20 per CD ..... Price includes Shipping and Handling in the US and Canada. Please add applicable taxes. Canadians add 5% GST. ❑ I enclose a cheque or ❑ Please debit my or card: ...... #: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exp. date: . . . . . . ...................................................................................... NAME CARDHOLDER SIGNATURE ....................................................................................... ADDRESS ...................................................................................... CITY ZIP/POSTAL CODE PHONE Mail to: Swedish Press, Box 4302, Blaine, WA 98230 USA or Swedish Press, 1294 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver BC V6H 1B6 Canada. For even faster service call Toll Free 1-866-882-0088 or fax 604-731-2292. Also available at www.nordicway.com