europolitics round up

Sweden.

Well, there's just a few days to go until Swedish parliamentary elections. The two party blocs are still polling neck in neck, with the left (made up of the Social Democrats, the Left Party and the Greens) slightly ahead. The good guys' fortunes were recently improved when it was revealed that the Liberal Party (on the Right in Sweden) had been hacking into the Social Democrats' private network to get info on campaign tactics and schedules. It's good to see that all parts of the American campaign toolbag is being exported, including Richard Nixon's contributions.

Critics are calling the scandal "Leijonborggate" after charismatic Liberal Party leader Lars Leijonborg. Confusingly, the word also means "Lejonborg Street", but I guess the "-gate" suffix is now universal. What is most striking is that somehow Swedes are angry about such shenanigans, while American voters are bored by evidence that an entire election has been blatantly stolen. Twice. Oh well.

Great Britain (And Northern Ireland)

Accross the North Sea in Britain, pressure is mounting for Tony Blair to step down. As previously reported, the heir apparent is still Gordon Brown. Blair has now said that he will step down within a year, though that's not good enough for some on the Labour back bench or among some of the membership. Read more about it, and other goings on in the UK over at The Daily.

In other British news, former US President Martin Sheen has entered the Freshman class at Glasgow University. He'll be studying Literature, Philosophy and Oceanography.

Federal Republic of Germany
In a move hinted at by Ben in a comment on my last post, German automaker Volkswagen is pressing workers to accept longer hours without pay increases. I always like to read sentances like this one:

"Although Volkswagen's cars are proving popular and sales are very strong, its profit margins are being squeezed by high production costs, particularly in its west German heartlands."

So, here in the US, we are being asked to accept drastic pay cuts (as much as 70%) because of lagging sales, while in Germany, amid high sales, we are being asked to work harder and longer. Gotta love market logic.