Sweden

Trump’s A$AP Rocky pander

Featured image President Trump stuck a blow against criminal justice when he backed, and thereby caused to be enacted, a “criminal justice reform” bill mandating the early release of many thousands of federal felons (including violent felons), plus shorter sentences for future federal felons. Given sky-high recidivism rates, the measure is certain to generate significantly more crime than would otherwise have been committed. Trump’s decision to back legislation that makes Americans less »

Swedes Don’t Care About Rape

Featured image The Supreme Court of Sweden has ruled that a rape conviction is not a sufficient reason to deport a non-Swedish citizen: Sweden’s highest court has overturned a decision to deport a convicted rapist after ruling there was no “extraordinary reason” to expel him from the country. Two lower courts had ruled that the man, a 33-year-old Somali citizen, should be deported after serving a jail sentence for rape, but the »

UPS Won’t Go

Featured image American liberals aspire to be Sweden, so conditions in that country are perennially of interest here and elsewhere in the West. Sweden is actually less liberal than most people think–its tax system, for example, is better and more conservative than ours–but it is true that it has gone all in on refugees. Importing an extraordinary number of Middle Easterners has caused many problems, but reporting on them is controversial. The »

That’s Not Funny!

Featured image Swedes are known for a number of things, but a sense of humor is not one of them. You are no doubt familiar with this meme, which has been put to any number of humorous uses: The meme reflects well-known phenomena of human nature and is endlessly adaptable. But not in Sweden: For anyone unfamiliar with the story so far, Stockholm-based internet service provider Bahnhof shared the meme, officially titled »

Sweden Swings to the Right

Featured image That is what observers expect from tomorrow’s election, anyway: “Far-right poised for big wins in Sweden election.” The anti-immigration far-right is expected to soar in Sweden’s September 9 general election, capitalising on voter discontent as Swedes punish traditional parties over immigration, integration and health care. Prime Minister Stefan Lofven’s Social Democrats, who have dominated Swedish politics since the 1930s, will remain the biggest party in the country but likely with »

Does Sweden Have an Anti-Semitism Problem?

Featured image Yes, says the Prime Minister: Swedish society has an anti-Semitism problem, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven told press in Paris, where he is participating in a climate meet to mark the anniversary of the 2015 Paris agreement. “We need to see it clearly. In Malmö we see it, and in Gothenburg. It is up to us to both counteract and prevent this,” he said, referring to a weekend which saw anti-Semitic »

The Latest From Stockholm [Updated]

Featured image As usual, the earliest news reports on yesterday’s terrorist attack in Stockholm were partly right and partly wrong. This is what we think we know as of this morning: * Four people were killed and 15 were injured, ten of whom are hospitalized. * At least two people have been arrested so far. The first, believed to be the driver of the stolen truck that careened down a pedestrian street »

On Immigration, Swedish Press Circles the Wagons

Featured image Sweden’s establishment is sticking to its story: there are no issues with immigration. The country’s refugee policy is going swimmingly. When President Trump referred to Sweden’s problems with refugees in a speech, that country’s politicians and reporters closed ranks, pretending, absurdly, not to know what he was talking about. So to learn what is going on in Sweden, you have to read between the lines. This story from The Local »