towards a brighter future

The sun cast long shadows in Ullånger at noon in December last year. Go see.

Tonight things take a turn for the better. Well, brighter at least.

I’m not sure why but the older I get the more difficult I find this dark season.

popping up in Baghdad

Christopher Hitchens takes a look at a man with a strange career. Once US attorney general, Ramsey Clark is nowadays involved in defending some of the most prominent criminals the world has seen in recent years. Anything goes as long as there’s an opportunity to bash his own country.

From bullying prosecutor he mutated into vagrant and floating defense counsel, offering himself to the génocideurs of Rwanda and to Slobodan Milosevic, and using up the spare time in apologetics for North Korea. He acts as front-man for the Workers World Party, an especially venomous little Communist sect, which originated in a defense of the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956.

I was wondering when Clark would pop up in Baghdad, and there he was last Monday, presenting his credentials to the judge in the Saddam Hussein case and being accepted at his face value as a defense spokesman. He lost no time in showing what he is made of.

Hitchens’ column here.

DABacle

updated, originally posted Dec 15

Regarding the apparent failure by Swedish minister for culture Pagrotsky to articulate a strategy for a national digital radio after 10+ years of test broadcasting, a few comments and current insight into the status of DAB.

Comment from WorldDAB
Radio researchers Rajar on a growing success in the UK
Nettavisen about progress in Norway (Norwegian)
Aftenposten on public service NRK defending DAB (Norweigan)
Aftenposten on a combined mp3/dab device (Norweigan)
Official Swedish Government view (February)

Ny Teknik about a different compression technique (Swedish)
Dagens Nyheter on an uncertain future (Swedish)
Reaction from public service Sveriges Radio (Swedish)
Resume on reactions to the Swedish non-decision (Swedish)
Blogger Per Ankersjö on the demise of DAB in Sweden (Swedish)

dab update

Same story, different language.

thank you for nothing, Mr. Pagrotsky

Today, finally some development on the DAB front.

Granted, I don’t expect a lot from this government. So I should have been warned. Still, having gotten rid of our previous minister for culture I was somehow expecting a bit of vision, some clout, I don’t know what. Leadership maybe? Yes, that’s it. Leadership. Silly me.

What we got was a non-decision:

• no phase-out plan for FM radio
• no green light for DAB
• no conclusions after a decade of testing
• no guidance for our public service SR
• no vision whatsoever

What a bold move!

Such decisive leadership after 10+ years of testing!

Thank you for nothing, Mr. Pagrotsky.

Bildt on "Tsunami over Rosenbad"

Former PM Carl Bildt has read the report from the independent commission on the performance of the Swedish government in the wake of the tsunami. Bildt is obviously not exactly an impartial observer in this matter and his verdict is clear. This is not primarily a case of the wrong party being in power (although we could certainly use a change) or the wrong people making up the government (which is an understatement). It’s really about PM Persson.

It's an indictment against the Persson system of government.

And the core conclusion to be drawn from the report is that this can't be allowed to go on. With the existing set-up of failed persons just sitting there, they are as likely to fail the nation tomorrow as they failed the nation yesterday.

Bildt’s analysis here.

a medium without a future?

Patiently awaiting some guidance from our beloved government regarding DAB...

Meanwhile, a media analyst warns that our public service Sveriges Radio might lose its dominant position unless they refocus their efforts onto newer distribution channels. Forget about FM, he says. And don’t bet it all on DAB. Radio has to be available where young people are finding music today. In cell phones. In mp3-players. In cable TV.

December in Vålådalen

Noon in Vålådalen

The sun barely managed to rise above the treetops in Jämtland. It was just before New Year, I was on my 44th and final trip of the year and the radio was full with confusing news about a tsunami. Go see.

Lisbon is far away

Any reader of this web log will know that I’m a friend of the Union. But even yours truly agrees that the agriculture sector is a sad story full with subsidies, tariffs and protectionism. This week brought some good news though. Subsidies to sugar beet farmers will be limited. Mind you, not abandoned. Limited.

Swedish Agriculture Minister Ann-Christin Nykvist has welcomed the decision by European Union ministers Thursday to overhaul the EU’s sugar subsidies, slashing prices by more than a third and offering generous pay-offs to farmers willing to abandon sugar beet production.

Even minor reforms require outside pressure, in this case from the WTO. Supporters of the Lisbon agenda for reform and competitiveness might despair. We have a long way to walk.

interesting times ahead

The developing story of eco-cars and the shifting auto market got even more fascinating today when GM announced draconic layoffs. Reminds me of the old curse “may you live in interesting times”. The former leaders Ford and GM might be wondering just how interesting it’ll get and just how much they can take.

General Motors Corp. said Monday it would cut 30,000 hourly jobs and close or scale back operations at about a dozen U.S. and Canadian locations in a bid to save $7 billion a year and halt huge losses in its core North American auto operations.

Full story here.