Free Republic

Sweden has cut interest rates below zero and launched quantitative easing to fight deflation, becoming the latest Scandinavian state to join Europe’s escalating currency wars. The Riksbank caught markets by surprise, reducing the benchmark lending rate to minus 0.10pc and unveiled its first asset purchases, vowing to take further action at any time to stop the country falling into a deflationary trap. The bank presented the move as precautionary step due to rising risks of a “poorer outcome abroad” and the crisis in Greece. Janet Henry from HSBC said the measures are clearly a “beggar-thy neighbour” manoeuvre to weaken the...

Last month, I posted “the cartoon argument” for Social Security reform. My main goal, as an American, is to achieve this important reform in the United States. And I’ve tried to bolster the argument by citing lots of hard data, including the fact that “funded” accounts already exist in nations such as Australia, Chile, Sweden, and the Netherlands. In this spirit, I wrote an article for the most recent issue of Cayman Financial Review, and I looked at the issue from a global perspective. I first explained thatdemographics are destiny.

Two hooded gunmen opened fire at a man in a kebab restaurant at one of Malmö’s largest shopping centres on Saturday afternoon, in full view of several families and their children. Their victim, thought to be Ashkan Moayed Abedi, a member of the Wolfpack Brotherhood criminal gang, escaped into the carpark where he was then gunned down in front of shocked shoppers. He died later in hospital. “They fired perhaps ten or twelve shots," ... Abedi, 30, was a key player in the gang war which took place in Sweden's third largest city between 2007 and 2011, leaving at least...

For years the Progressive left has made the case that the United States should be more like Europe. From the way we consume oil, to our healthcare system, the Progressives are convinced that Europe does it better. But I wonder what the American left would say about a recent article on the National Post, which reports that some on the European left are saying that a video, targeting children, consisting of dancing genitalia, isn’t quite Progressive enough: “STOCKHOLM — In socially liberal Sweden, an educational video for children featuring dancing genitals has become an online hit — and even drawn criticism...

Translated from Russian: The magazine apparently organized a photo shoot on the shores of the White Sea for the Mercedes-Benz GL450, a full-size sports utility vehicle, and didn’t realize it had captured the stealthy submarine cruising on the surface of the water in the background. The vessel, nicknamed, “Losharik” after a children’s movie, is part of the Russian navy’s Northern Fleet. The magazine image of Losharika may be the highest-quality open source photo of the boat to date. Filmed nuclear submarine was deep station AC-12 project 10831. The boat is the last of deep-built nuclear power stations, is part of...

In my younger years, I oftentimes would have arguments with statists who wanted me to believe that countries in Northern Europe like Sweden “proved” that generous welfare states were compatible with economic prosperity. That doesn’t happen as often today because the Nordic nations in recent decades have not enjoyed rapid growth. Moreover, some of the nations – such as Sweden in the early 1990s and Iceland last decade – suffered from serious financial downturns.So I stand by my position that free markets and small government are the recipe for prosperity.That being said, there are still some interesting lessons to be...

By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyNew England, USA — January 17, 2015 … The above mosque is not in Iraq, Syria, Turkey or Iran. But one would have wished it was. The speaker was Dr. Saud Anwar, mayor of South Windsor, Connecticut. Dr. Anwar is respected for saving lives. Saud Anwar is a physician who specializes in Lung Diseases and Critical Care Medicine. Currently, he serves as Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine of Manchester Memorial and Rockville General Hospitals. Dr. Anwar is involved in humanitarian and peace initiatives nationally and internationally. He is frequently invited to consult for...

In the municipality of Örebro the ruling body have highlighted the problem of IS-sympathizers. According to Councillor Rasmus Persson (C), they municipality will try to help the IS-warriors who returns to Orebro getting a job and get psychological help for their traumatic experiences. - We have discussed how we should work for these guys who have come back, to make them not go back, and that they should be helped to process the traumatic experiences they have been through, says Rasmus Persson (C) to SVT Tvärsnytt. The City Council has also reasoned regarding the possibility of offering the returning men...

Reports of a potential “Russian” submarine found near England and Sweden have once again become common, and now the United States is being asked by Great Britain to help in the search for this mysterious underwater object. In a related report by the Inquisitr, Vladimir Putin recently signed and enacted a new military doctrine which proposes that Russian nuclear weapons defense systems near Europe will be expanded based upon joint defense projects with China, India, and other countries. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev also warns that the Ukraine crisis may transform into World War 3, claiming that a nuclear war...

PROHIBITED: The Swedish flag has now been banned at a primary school in Sweden. The reason is that the flag may be offensive to certain groups and breaking the law “offensive against ethnic groups.” The sensational ban is introduced at Söndrum school in Halmstad. Use of the flag is now only allowed on the national day or when foreign students are invited. Swedish flag can be perceived as racist …….. The reason for the ban is a masquerade which was held at the school recently where one of the students chose to paint his face blue and yellow. He also...

In a country caught up in a fierce debate on immigration, a third suspected arson attack on a mosque in a week took place in the Swedish city of Uppsala on Thursday. “People saw a man throwing something burning at the building,” police in Uppsala said, adding that the mosque did not catch fire, AFP reported. The suspect had left behind “a text on the door expressing contempt for religion,” the police said. A police spokesman told Swedish news agency TT that the burning object was a Molotov cocktail and that no one was in the building at the time,...

Stockholm (AFP) - Swedish police launched a manhunt Thursday after the third arson attack against a mosque in a week, amid growing tensions over the rise of a far right anti-immigration movement. People saw a man throwing something burning at the building," police in Uppsala said in a statement, adding that the mosque in eastern Sweden did not catch fire and that the suspect had left behind "a text on the door expressing contempt for religion." A police spokesman told Swedish news agency TT that the burning object was a Molotov cocktail and that no one was in the building...

Some 40 asylum-seekers refused to leave the bus when they arrived at their destination in rural northern Sweden, demanding that they be taken back to Malmö or "some big city". When the transport arrived at a housing centre in Grytan south of Östersund the asylum-seekers didn't like the look of what they saw. "I am 75-years-old and come from the Middle East. Then I get sent to a place that looks like this," said a man from Syria to the local Östersunds-Posten daily, pointing to the icy road.

The reported rise in Swedes asking for money in other countries comes as the number of foreign beggars in Sweden continues to rise. As hundreds of thousands of Swedes head for sunshine over the winter holidays, police in Australia have reported a rise in young Scandinavians posing as bogus beggars. Sweden and Romania to discuss begging surge (17 Dec 14) Swedish teen caught stealing beggar's money (19 Jun 14) Stockholm launches 'beggar hotline' (13 Jun 14) Swedish tourists are begging on the streets of Melbourne in order to help fund their trips during the holiday season, with the region’s police...

Woe to anyone in Sweden who dissents from the orthodox view that welcoming large numbers of indigent peoples from such countries as Iraq, Syria, and Somalia is anything but a fine and noble idea. Even to argue that permitting about 1 percent of the existing population to emigrate annually from an alien civilization renders one politically, socially, and even legally beyond the pale. (I know a journalist threatened with arrest for mild dissent on this issue.) Stating that there exists a Swedish culture worth preserving meets with puzzlement. And yet, the realities of immigration are apparent for all to...

The acting party leader of the Sweden Democrats has hit out at Stefan Löfven and the Alliance parties for backing out of next year's planned election, and stated the nationalist party is now the main opposition as a result. In the wake of the announcement, dubbed the 'December agreement' on Saturday morning, Mattias Karlsson has reacted with fury and plans to call for a vote of no confidence in the current Prime Minister. "He doesn't deserve to govern Sweden," Karlsson told the TT news agency. The December agreement was thrashed out over the Christmas period and effectively means a minority...

An arsonist set fire to a mosque in the Swedish town of Eskilstuna on Thursday, injuring five people, police said, an incident which comes amid an intense debate over immigration. The immigration debate has pitted the far right, which wants to cut the number of asylum seekers allowed into Sweden by 90 percent, against mainstream parties intent on preserving the Nordic country's liberal policy.

The risk of being raped in Sweden during one’s lifetime is one out of four (if every raped woman is only raped once), which is probably equal to the risk of being raped in countries in war, such as Iraq or Syria. When it comes to rapes, Islamized Sweden is already in a state of war. Sweden does not publish statistics on immigrant crime. If we want to have a hint about who is committing these tens of thousands of rapes and other types of sexual assaults yearly, we can turn to another Scandinavian country, Sweden’s neighbor Norway, the country...

An arsonist set fire to a mosque in the Swedish town of Eskilstuna on Thursday, injuring five people, police said, according to the BBC. About 15 to 20 people were attending midday prayers in the mosque, located in the ground floor of a residential building, when the fire broke out. Local media footage showed smoke and flames billowing from the windows before firefighters put the blaze out. The incident comes amid a fierce debate in Sweden over immigration policies. The far right wants to cut the number of asylum seekers allowed into Sweden by 90%, while mainstream parties are intent...

Swedish defense officials have said a Russian military aircraft nearly collided south of Sweden with a commercial passenger plane shortly after takeoff from Copenhagen, Denmark, on December 12. Sweden's air force chief, Major General Micael Byden, said the Russian warplane's transponders -- which make the plane detectable to commercial radar -- were shut off. Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist called the incident "serious" and "inappropriate," although he added the Russian plane had not violated Swedish air space. "This is outright dangerous when you turn off the transponder," Hultqvist told Swedish radio. Hultqvist said both Danish and Swedish jet fighters were...