Bullets And Batons Outdid Twitter In Iran

I'm mourning, but not Michael Jackson or Farrah Fawcett. I'm mourning the death of the democratic opportunity in Iran, just as I mourned the death of the democratic opportunity in China after June 4, 1989. And just as then, the good guys didn't win, the bullets were more powerful than brittle humans made out of flesh and bones, and there was no real leadership to help them out.

And for those of you who thought twitter and Facebook could do it, well it was a nice thought. Here is a snippet from today's New York Times:

While protesters were aided at first by technology — primarily the Internet and text messaging — the government deployed its control of state television and news outlets to sweep away competing narratives.

“It is still possible that the information age will crack authoritarian structures in Iran,” wrote Jon B. Alterman, director of the Middle East program for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “But it is far more likely that the government will be able to use that technology to secure its own rule.”
Iranian Leaders Gaining the Edge Over Protesters (New York Times June 27, 2009)

Trita Parsi and Reza Aslan sums up the events in an article for Foreign Policy magazine called The End of the Beginning - What will be the legacy of the Green Revolution?

In many ways, the Ahmadinejad government has succeeded in transforming what was a mass movement into dispersed pockets of unrest. Whatever is now left of this mass movement is now leaderless, unorganized -- and under the risk of being hijacked by groups outside Iran in pursuit of their own political agendas.
(...)

Although successful at first, the discipline has clearly broken down. This should be no surprise -- the movement is by now in effect leaderless. A source close to Mousavi says that the first and second circle of people around Mousavi have all been arrested or put under house arrest. Mousavi himself has limited ability to communicate with his team and his followers. The lack of leadership is visible on the streets, where demonstrators exhibit unparalleled will and courage, but lack direction and guidance.

Hans Sandberg

Bo I Andersson Leaves GM

Bo I. Andersson, head of supply management and logistics and General Motors, and the only non-American on GM's board, is leaving the troubled auto giant. He is said to become CEO at another company, although which one is not yet clear.

Andersson joined GM in the mid-1990's and became head of GM's global supply management group in 2005, reporting to CEO Richard Wagoner Jr. (Who was forced out after the U.S. Government had to bail-out GM). Andersson was once rumoured to become the next CEO after Wagoner. When I asked him about the rumours in an interview late 2006, he answered:
“Next question…. No, I don’t think that will happen, but somebody floated my name. Do I think that it’s going to happen? Absolutely not.”

He didn't say that he didn't want to.

"Bo has made tremendous contributions to the development of our global purchasing and supply chain strategy as we've globalized our product line portfolios and manufacturing footprint," GM's new CEO Fritz Henderson said in a press comment to Andersson's departure.

“They’re going to have some very big shoes to fill,” John Henke Jr., president of supplier-research firm Planning Perspectives told Bloomberg Business News on Friday.
“He was a tough guy, but he knew his business and he knew what he had to do,” Henke said, adding that Andersson “is too good and he loves the business.”


Read my interview with Bo Andersson in Currents magazine No. 1 2007.

Hans Sandberg

Sexy Koenigsegg Buys Saab Automobile

Not, it wont be China that buys Saab Automobile from General Motors if we are to believe a report on the Swedish TV-channel SVT's news program "Rapport". Instead, it is the tiny Swedish manufacturer of extreme sports cars - Koenigsegg - that buys the Swedish auto manufcturer.

Financing for the deal comes from investors in oil-rich Norway. The details are being worked out according to the report. Koenigsegg was founded in 1994 by Christian von Koenigsegg,  a 36 year old Swedish entrepreneur. His custom made elegant cars are among the hottest things on four wheels you can buy.

Injecting Koenigsegg into Saab Automobile sounds far-off, almost whacky, but also very, very sexy, something Saab could use after having been part of big and boring GM.

Hans Sandberg

The 2009 Childhood Soccer Tournament

Childhood USA and Blatte United invited young kids from New York to a day of soccer, food, ice cream and fun at the Met Oval Foundation Soccer Field in Queens, one of New York's oldest.

Marcus Samuelsson and two young New Yorkers. 

Charlotte Brandin, Childhood USA, 

and Selim Adira, Blatte United Football Club.

About 50 kids from Bronx, Brooklyn, Harlem and Queens got a chance to play soccer in the sun on Sunday, May 31st. Among the teacher were Swedish-born amateur soccer players,  including New York's famous chef, Marcus Samuelsson, and hedge fund manager Medufia "Keke" Kulego.   

-It a chance for us to highlight what childhood is about, says Charlotte Brandin, Executive Director for Childhood USA, the U.S. section of World Childhood Foundation. We hope to repeat the tournament next year, she adds. 

-It's fun to combine multiculturalism with soccer and to do it here in Queens. It's a great theme for our cooperation with Childhood USA, and a lot of fun to teach kids play soccer, Marcus Samuelsson says in break between two games.  

-We always have tournaments for adults, but we always wanted to do something for the children, says Selim Adira, whoese parents immigrated to Sweden from Marocco. He moved to New York four years ago and runs the residence for the Swedish U.S. Ambassador.  

"The 2009 Childhood Soccer Tournament" was arranged with support from Volvo Group North America and AQ Kafé. Childhood USA hopes that the soccer event will benefit its five charity partners in New York: Family Advocacy Program in Bronx, Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem; Safe Space Drop-In Center in Far-Rockaway i Queens, Chances for Children in Bronx and Inwood House in Manhattan.

-It's a fantastic thing, and the staff is doing such a wonderful job. They are really dedicated to help the children, says Maria Williams, a Queens resident whose four year old daughter join the games with gusto despite never having played soccer before. 

A four year old soccer enthusiast from Queens.

 Portia from Bronx with her youngest 

daughter, five-year old Navaia.  

-They told me about the program at the Family Advocacy Program in the Bronx. I thought it was fun. I used to play on a soccer team when I was younger, and I wanted my three daughters to get the experience, says Portia, a mother of three.

-Soccer is fun, and hard, says her oldest daughter Destiny, who is eight. She adds that the hard part is to get the ball in the net. I want to join the Bronx Rangers, she says.

-I like soccer. It was fun, and I like to run. And I made a goal, says her sister, seven-year old Jamaia.  

Terrence Johnson, a teacher at Middle School 399

in Bronx some of his eleven students 

who attended the soccer event.

-It’s a good event, because we are from Bronx, and soccer is not a game that a lot of kids get to play. They were excited to get to do something you normally don’t get to do, says Terrence Johnson, a middle school teacher from Bronx. 

Met Oval Soccer Field with Manhattan's

skyline in the background.

Marcus Samuelson teaches soccer. 

Kick off!

Ready for the game! Assistant Coach 

Mahir Ali Hossein and his team.

Marcus Samuelson instructing his soccer students. 

A student training with the Swedish hedge fund

manager and Medufia "Keke" Kulego.

Charlotte Brandin, Childhood USA and 

Christina Moliteus, SWEA and board 

member at Childhood USA.

Text & Photo: Hans Sandberg   Copyright: Hans Sandberg

Is It Possible to Blend the European Welfare System and the U.S. Frontier Spirit?

If you ever wonder why Europeans do things differently, without necessarily rushing to judgement over either the Europeans or the Americans, you ought to read Russel Shorto's essay in this past Sunday's New York Times' Sunday Magazine (May 3rd). The subtitle is "How I Learned to Love the European Welfare State" but it's not a simplistic love. He takes a balanced approach in this little masterpiece of cross-cultural analysis.

'So where does this get us? If the collectivist Dutch social system arises from the waters of Dutch history, how applicable is it to American society, which was shaped by the wagon train and the endless frontier? And why would a nation raised on “You can go your own way” and “Be all that you can be” even want to go Dutch?

To the first point, there are notable similarities between the two countries. The Dutch approach to social welfare grew out of its blend of a private-enterprise tradition and a deep religious tradition. The ways in which the United States seeks to fix its social system surely stem from its own strong tradition of religious values, and also from a desire to blend those values with its commitment to private enterprise. And while I certainly wouldn’t wish the whole Dutch system on the United States, I think it’s worth pondering how the best bits might fit. One pretty good reason is this: The Dutch seem to be happier than we are.'

If you replace the Netherlands with Sweden, the story is equally true. Try that on these two paragraphs:

'Then, too, one downside of a collectivist society, of which the Dutch themselves complain, is that people tend to become slaves to consensus and conformity. I asked a management consultant and a longtime American expat, Buford Alexander, former director of McKinsey & Company in the Netherlands, for his thoughts on this. “If you tell a Dutch person you’re going to raise his taxes by 500 euros and that it will go to help the poor, he’ll say O.K.,” he said. “But if you say he’s going to get a 500-euro tax cut, with the idea that he will give it to the poor, he won’t do it. The Dutch don’t do such things on their own. They believe they should be handled by the system. To an American, that’s a lack of individual initiative.”

Another corollary of collectivist thinking is a cultural tendency not to stand out or excel. “Just be normal” is a national saying, and in an earlier era children were taught, in effect, that “if you were born a dime, you’ll never be a quarter” — the very antithesis of the American ideal of upward mobility. There seem to be fewer risk-takers here. Those who do go out on a limb or otherwise follow their own internal music — the architect Rem Koolhaas, say, or Vincent Van Gogh — tend to leave.'

Hans Sandberg

What's With the Czechs?

First we have President Václav Klaus in denial of global warming, and now we have Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek in denial about the global financial crisis. Maybe the entire Czech Republic joined the Republican Party....

But fortunately, the Czech people just ousted his government, but before stepping down, he used his role as rotating President of EU took the opportunity to blast Barack Obama's effort to save the world economy by describing it as a "way to hell" as it supposedly “will undermine the stability of the global financial market.”

Where is Jaroslav Hasek when we need him?

Hans Sandberg

Fair-Minded U.S. Diplomat Angers Right-Wing Zealots

Charles Freeman, an American diplomat with 30 years of experience, was nominated to become the next chairman of the National Intelligence Committee, but withdrew his nomination after a slanderous smear-campaign by extreme-right Israeli lobbyists. Ambassador Freeman was interviewed by Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, March 15th.
It's sad to see such a smart and level-headed guy derailed by right-wing zealots.

Nominee Ends Bid for Key Job in Intelligence
Israel Stance Was Undoing of Nominee for Intelligence Post
Iran, Jews and Pragmatism
Interview With Charles Freeman

More on the nattering nabobs of negativity

First, watch Jon Stewart ripping into CNBC and their sorry bunch of pundits (with the exception of Steve Liesman who is smarter and more knowledgeable than the rest of the bunch together).
It's a gem; funny, sad, and a piece of media history.
Watch it! 

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Paul Krugman commented on the pundits/economics reporters pang for fiscal conservatism in his latest column:
 
'President Obama’s plan to stimulate the economy was “massive,” “giant,” “enormous.” So the American people were told, especially by TV news, during the run-up to the stimulus vote. Watching the news, you might have thought that the only question was whether the plan was too big, too ambitious.
Yet many economists, myself included, actually argued that the plan was too small and too cautious.'

And Frank Rich picked up on Jon Stewart's CNBC-segment in his Sunday Times column Some Things Don’t Change in Grover’s Corners.

On Monday, the New York Times had an interesting piece explaining how the CNBC network is struggling to retain its tiny, but wealthy, group of viewers by becoming more political and by lambasting president Obama.

'But in a change from previous downturns, CNBC is now a place for politics, to borrow a phrase from its sister channel MSNBC. The network’s journalists have been encouraged to speak their minds, making the line between reporter and commentator almost indistinguishable at times.

“When they are all sitting around the table it’s hard to tell a business pundit versus a reporter,” said Tom Rosenstiel, the director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism.
(...)
With economic attention focused on Washington, the network is spending less time on bullish stock picks and more time assessing the government’s actions.

In recent weeks some have perceived the network to be leading the campaign against President Obama’s economic agenda."

Now you may be ready for a little more nabob skewering from Jon Stewart's side:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

The Dow Knows All

In case you missed my previous blog about the revenge of the nattering nabobs of negativity, scroll down to read it!

Hans Sandberg

The nattering nabobs of negativity are back

The chatter is very intensive right now, and destructive, but it's not emanating from Bora Bora. No. it comes right out of New York, Atlanta, from CNN, MSNBC and CNBC, and it includes the entire spectrum of media commentators, from normally sensible persons like Anderson Cooper, to the generally wacky ones like Larry Kudlow.

They have all become the "nattering nabobs of negativity", which Nixon's nutty vice president Spiro Agnew lambasted so badly (thanks to then speechwriter William Safire who coined the phrase). Our talking act like hysterical passengers on a sinking ship, but it's not the ship that is sinking, only their 401K's that are shrinking. It is certainly painful, but their job is to analyse and report, not distort and vent. 

The problem with the nabobs of 2009 is that they are making things worse. They refuse to look deeper, instead pandering to the least common denominator, which of course is fear. They want everything fixed right now, only to complain that Obama is trying to do much and has too much on his desk. Above all, they want their 401K's back to where they were when we all were financially bubbleicious and happy, even if it didn't make sense and we killed the Earth in the process.

Analyst often say that we need a capitulation before the markets can turn back up. In a way they are right, but before the investors can capitulate, the pundits need to capitulate.

It's time to simmer down, and give the economy a chance! 

Hans Sandberg

PS. For an interesting take on the role of psychology in this crisis, read Amartya Sen's essay in the New York Review of Books: Capitalism Beyond the Crisis.