Stories from Quick Reads and Sweden
European Citizens Call for the Protection of Media Pluralism
“European institutions should safeguard the right to free, independent and pluralistic information”. The quote, from the Media Initiative website, summarizes the main idea behind a pan-European campaign that aims at urging the European Commission to draft a Directive to protect Media Pluralism and Press Freedom. The Media Initiative is running a European Citizens’ Initiative – a tool...
Underwear Bombardment on North Korea?
A Swedish underwear brand launched a ridiculous Ad campaign entitled ‘Weapons of the Mass Seduction’ that pledges to drop 450 pairs of free underwear to the country voted the most in the poll on Oct 31 by an airdrop. North Korea, so far, was placed on top by garnering over 5,500 votes and news has...
Parallels Between Religious and Copyright Wars
Rick Falkvinge, the founder of Pirate Party, reinterprets the wars of religion that devastated Western Europe in the XVI and XVII centuries in terms of the current struggle to control information through overbearing legislation related to copyright and freedom of expression: The religious wars were never about religion as such....
France: Unexpected Parallel Between Assange and Strauss-Kahn
The blog de Casimira highlights some similarities [fr] between the timing of the charges and the ensuing judicial battles facing J. Assange and D. Strauss-Kahn. She also clarifies the peculiarities of the charge, “sex by surprise” [fr], for which the founder of WikilLeaks is being sued. This charge, which applies when the person refuses to wear...
Palestine: Swedish Ship Attempting to Break the Blockade Sails to Gaza
Scandinavian ship SV Estella will attempt to sail to Gaza in an attempt to break the blockade on the Palestinian enclave. The ship sailed from Oslo on August 7, 2012, and is backed by mostly Swedish and Norwegian groups. Organizers hope that other ships will join them before they reach...
Baltics-Sweden: Twenty Years of Independence
Albatros of Litauen blog reports about [ger] Swedish celebrations of 20 years of independence for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and how Swedish Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, apologised to his Baltic colleagues for recognizing soviet annexation during World War II.
Europe: EU and LGBT Rights
Katerina Todorovska wrote [MKD] on the Macedonia in the European Union blog about EU's imperfect record on LGBT rights and its positive influence in relation to starting the debate and improving tolerance in the Western Balkans, as Croatia, Serbia, and Macedonia strive to join this supranational structure.
Azerbaijan: Journalists to visit Sweden ahead of November vote
Gulara Azimzadeh's blog reports that seven journalists from Azerbaijan will visit Stockholm to see how the media covered the 2010 elections in Sweden. The journalists were selected after a competition held by the Azerbaijan Media Center as the country prepares for its own parliamentary vote this November and recounts the...
Worldwide: Demonstrations for Palestine
Roba from Jordan published pictures from different demonstrations world wide against Israel's last attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, in Holland, Greece, Egypt, United Kingdom, Lebanon, Pakistan, Malaysia, Sweden, France, Turkey, India, Italy, Canada, Spain, Belgium, United States, Bulgaria and Austria.
Baltics: Any need for Baltic Sea cooperation
Litauen writes about [GER] the Council of the Baltic Sea states and how this organization is becoming increasingly superfluous as basis for Baltic Sea cooperation.
Finland: The Language Issue
Nordic Voices writes about Finland's “language issue.”
MENA: Introducing, “The Circumventer”
Alexandra Sandels, from MENASSAT, writes her interview with Walid Al-Saqaf, a Sweden-based Yemeni Internet expert, regarding the launch of his new program Al-Kasir (means the circumventer in Arabic) – during a summit on blogging in Cairo which was entitled “Blogging for the Future“. Al-Kasir, which is currently available in its...
Russia-Sweden: Wallenberg case as family tragedy
LaurenceJarvikOnline comments on a Wall Street Journal story on how the family of Swedish World War II diplomat, Raoul Wallenberg, suffered from the uncertainty of his destiny in soviet captivity.
Russia, EU: “Policy-Media Interaction” and Blogging
Vilhelm Konnander posts his reflections on Russia-focused blogging and “policy-media interaction”: “So, by the end of the day, there is little room for deviance as the public policy-media discourse evolves. When one, to the contrary, gets one's message across, there is no saying how it will be processed by its...
Russia: Vegetarian Borscht
Russian Blog shares a vegetarian borscht recipe.
Palestine: Shoe thrown at Israel's ambassador to Sweden
Palestinian Laila El Haddad links to a video and story showing protesters throwing a shoe at Israel's Ambassador to Sweden Benny Dagan, during a talk at Stockholm University.
Europe: “Who Needs the Euro?”
Andrei Tuch of AnTyx writes at Th!nk About It: “So, for the eleven member states who still use their own currencies – and especially the more developed ones, whose economies might have some chance of standing on their own without leaning on the European Central Bank – the question is:...
Europe: Entropa
Belatedly, links to some posts on Entropa: Margarete of The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia believes “it should be taken down”; Kosmopolito thinks that “the debate around the project is also part of the installation”; BBC's Mark Mardell writes that “the fact that it is a hoax does not...
Sweden: Immigration
Certain Ideas of Europe writes: “Not all of those Polish plumbers leaving Britain and Ireland as the economies slow are necessarily going straight home. Sweden has seen immigration surge to record levels this year.”
Jordan: An Encounter with a Bisexual in Iran
Jordanian Rami Abdelrahman, who lives in Sweden, posts this fascinating post by a Swedish friend who travelled to Iran on a study visit and his encounter with a ‘bisexual’ tour guide.
Iran:An Iranian Lesbian needs urgent help in Sweden
Iranian Queer Organization (IRAQO) asks people to help a young Iranian lesbian who escaped Iran to Sweden in January 2008 on base of her sexual orientation. According to this organization she is at a mental hospital now.