Swedish News:

Red-green majority among the young. New leader for Left Party. More children in jail. ADHD more common among the obese. Lill-Babs (above) as a stamp.  

  • Red-green majority among the young
    Skops (a business that continuously asks the public about financial and political opinions) presented their last findings, and it shows a red-green majority among young people (between the ages of 16 and 25). 50.5 percent of the 1000 young people asked, sympathize with the Social Democrats, the Left Party, or the Green Party. The most popular party, however, is the Moderate Party—31.8 percent say they like that party the most, while 27.1 percent prefer the Social Democrats.

  • New leader for Left Party
    The Swedish Left Party has a new leader, and his name is Jonas Sjostedt. Sjostedt won markedly over Rossana Dinamarca (he received 179 of the 225 votes), and the expectations on him are huge. At the same time, many party members worry that Sjöstedt will take the party to the middle and tone down old Left Party demands such as 6-hour workdays. “I’m so happy and proud,” he said. “I will listen and work with you and together we’ll build a stronger Left Party.” Sjöstedt was born in Göteborg in 1964. He became politically involved as a union leader in the Volvo plant in the city of Umeå in the early 1990’s. Living in New York City in 2006–2010 (he is also a member of the Socialist Party USA) during a period he also wrote for Swedish leftist publications, radio and print columns, as well as works of history and fiction. He is married to Swedish diplomat Ann Måwe, part of the Swedish delegation to the United Nations.

  • More children in jail
    The number of children following a parent to jail is on the rise. One wonders what a child is doing in jail, but there are cases when it is deemed better for the child to remain with the parent (who is the one going to jail) rather than be separated from her. According to Kriminalvården (the Swedish prison and probation service), there has been an increase from four children following parents to jail in 2007 to 26 children in 2010. Most women’s prisons have therefore been adjusted to better suit the needs of children. There is, however, no childcare available yet in the any of the prisons.

  • ADHD more common among the obese
    The symptoms of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) are more than twice as common among patients preparing for an operation against obesity than among the rest of the population. According to a study done in Uppsala, the problems are connected to a disturbed eating pattern, worry and depression. The study of 187 obese patients gives further support to the opinion that “ADHD can be an important factor in viewing obesity,” Professor of Psychology Ata Ghaderi at Uppsala University says. Ghaderi also proposes more research be done.

  • Lill-Babs as a stamp
    Now you can put your letter in an envelope and send it off with a picture of Barbro 'Lill-Babs' Svensson on it. Because Lill-Babs, the popular singer/entertainer, is about to come out as a stamp. “It’s me, it is me,” she says to daily Expressen in an interview. Lill-Babs has been waiting a whole year for the stamp to come out, and she’s had to keep it a secret. “I’ve managed to keep mum,” she says. “I didn’t even tell my children. I am of course both happy and honored. Not everyone gets to be on a stamp.” When Lill-Babs is not jittery over her stamp, due to be released this week in Sweden, she is at home in Järvsö playing WordFeud on her smart phone: “I play two to three hours a day, and I play an unknown person that I have yet to beat.…”