Olympic Success

Sweden had its best Winter Olympics ever in Turin! We finished 6 in the "medal league", after:

1. Germany 11-12-6=29
2. USA 9-9-7=25
3. Austria 9-7-7=23
4. Russia 8-6-8=22
5. Canada 7-10-7=24
6. SWEDEN 7-2-5=14
7... R.o.W

Most Swedes would say that winning the Gold in ice-hockey was the best, but I'm the most excited - and proud - about the women's curling team who actually have to work for a living (e.g. one team member is a consultant, another an accountant) and train in their spare time. A reality quite far from the luxury life of the ice-hockey players who are almost all professionals playing in the NHL. The curling team even had to finance part of the trip themselves. Of course, the ice-hockey players have worked hard to get where they are today, but it doesn't make them bigger stars or their gold worth more than the curling ladies' golden medal.

Congestion Charges Update

I wrote earlier about the congestion charges introduced in the centre of Stockholm at the beginning of the year. I am very pleaset to tell you that so far they have been a huge success! Such a success that the political debate has if not died out but almost disappeared. The parties that were against charges (or "tax" as they call it) are still against (though they were the ones that had launched the idea in the first place, as I mentioned in my previous posting), but they are not as vocal about it in the fear of (I think) alienating voters.

The results so far:

• Substantial decrease in congestion on the streets of Stockholm - halving of travel times in rush hour and buses having to hold for a minute at bus stops not to get ahead of their timetable
• 25 % decrease in traffic on weekdays
• No significant increase in traffic on ringroads (e.g. Essingeleden)
• 40,000 more people commuting by public transportation, without any major problems for SL
• Well-functioning technical and administrative system and not total chaos as critics feared

Reservations exist of course. Traffic always increase gradually from a winter low to a peak in May-June so the congestion charges will have to be continuously evaluated before a final assessment of the results can be made. We also have to wait for an evaluation of the environmental effects, e.g. emissions and noise.

But so far so good! I really hope the continuous success of the trial period leads to Stockholmers voting for a permanent (or as long as congestion and the environment so require) introduction of congestion charges!

Good Point

This New York Times article about the film Brokeback Mountain makes an excellent point regarding the belief of many right-wing Christians in the U.S. that homosexuality is essentially a disease or a phase that one can recover from.

"If anyone believes that gay men can actually become ex-gay men, I have just one question for you: Would you want your daughter to marry one?"

One Step Back for the Japanese Monarchy

Earlier this week Japan announced that they are scrapping the plans to change the rules of succession. Without a male heir to the throne - the Crown Prince has only one child, Princess Aiko, and his brother, Prince Akishino, has two daughters (Princess Sayako married a "commoner" and is out) - the Japanese monarchy will end with the present Crown Prince unless Japan allows women to succeed the throne. Reform was under way until it was announced last week that Prince Akishino and his wife are expecting again. The sex of the baby is not known yet but everyone is hoping for a boy.

Suits them right if it's another girl!

Conservatives in Japan also argue that since women are closely associated with blood through menstruation and childbirth, woman cannot ascend the throne since blood is strictly forbidden in sacred places.

Sounds like something Aristotle (or was it Plato?) would have said, who believed that a woman's emotional life and her lack of control over her feelings made her blood boil, forcing her to let it out once a month...

Islam on the Outskirts of the Welfare State

...is an excellent and very interesting article about Muslims in Sweden in the New York Times, written by Christopher Caldwell. It's long but really worth while reading.

Poem for my Valentine

En varm kittlande känsla
Jag glömmer allt
Tänker inte
Svävar
Dina ögon ler, skrattar
De tycker om mig
Jag blundar
Flyter
Ett leende, en hand
Jag faller handlöst
Tycker om dig
Lyfter

Habits and Oddities

I've been tagged by Natalie. The task this time is to make a list of five weird habits or pecularities and then challenge five other bloggers to do the same and continue the chain. I have to include these short rules (and here they are) and list who I challenge at the bottom of the post. I also need to inform them on their blogs that they've been tagged!

Okay, here goes:

1. (Dis)organised?
I've always felt that I'm very organised and orderly, and in a way I am. I have a very good memory and I remember a lot of facts and details. Most people see me as very organised, especially at work, but at home I have lots of piles of papers and post laying around. My flat is always clean but it can be a bit messy and I don't really mind. At the same time I like to keep the books on my bookshelf in alphabetic order, like the blogs on the right, so while I'm a bit messy I'm also a control freak if that's possible.

2. Saver-spender
Like Natalie I would say that I'm a saver if I had to choose between saving and spendthrift. But really, I spend most of my salary every month. I can't help myself! Sure, I'm not extravagant; on the contrary, I rather go to H&M than Gucci, but I do spend a lot on clothes, books, trips, etc. Actually, I probably don't go to Gucci because that would entail having to save for a while in order to spend. However, lately I've been pretty good, joining a private pension saving scheme and buying stuff for the flat that were needed.

3. Don't ask me about proverbs!
I have a habit of using slang and I don't like it. Swedish words I use too often are "ba" and "liksom" and in English I say "like" a lot although I'm getting better. One of my colleagues at my new job is so well-articulated and I really wish I were like her. I hardly curse at all so that's good. My mum always told me that swearing is a sign of bad vocabulary and that really stuck to me.

4. TV freak
I follow too many TV series. No, not docu soaps because I absolutely loathe them! I'm talking about Lost, West Wing, Desperate Housewives, O.C., Six Feet Under, CIC... and then there are all the sitcoms and Swedish shows... Good thing I'm pretty good at multi-tasking and can zip channels when three shows are on at the same time at three different stations.

5. So perfect
My last bad habit must be that I think I'm so perfect that I cannot think of a fifth one! ;)

Okay, I challenge Marianne, Nonna, Marina (will all five have to do with a certain perfume addiction?), Nina and Ester!

Social Democratic Sweden (and Eric Sundström)

A fellow Social Democrat who I have linked to in my blogs list, Eric Sundström, is excellent at highlighting why most Swedes continue to vote for the Social Democrats (sure, the opposition is leading - or tied - in the polls at the moment but there are still seven months to the election). See his latest post about Sweden's new goal to become the world's first oil-free economy (by 2020).

See also an example of Eric's excellent writing, about the Vaxholm (Laval) conflict) relating to the EU's Service Directive.

Having difficulties choosing which book to read next?

Don't worry, there's help! www.whichbook.net lets you put in a few values for what you want from a book and then generates a list for you. Don't forget to move the yellow arrows towards the degree of [value] that you prefer!

Selecting funny, unpredictable, larger than life and unusual generated, among other books:

John Dory
By John Murray

An offbeat tale with some hilarious accounts of the narrator's schooldays; his ongoing war with his teacher, and his scrapes with his friend, Squinty Bar Radish. Underlying the reminiscences is a spiritual quest for meaning, and we are left to decide how far George Singer's enlightenment, through his encounter with the fish, has led him.

It also allows you to choose characters, plots and settings.

So my fellow book-a-holics out there - make your choice!