Michael Moore finally responds to the criticism of Bowling for Columbine, - or the easily refutable parts of it, anyway.

Denmark's Pia Kjærsgaard may be many things, but is she a racist? Well, their Supreme Court says it's ok to call her that, so I suppose she must be, or the Independent supposes that anyhow, and warns the Tories to keep a distance.

Slow blog week, this - that and been busy with other things. For now, here's an interesting blog by Stefan Geens, a Belgian in Sweden, who has some good coverage of the Anna Lindh murder.

Thanks to Leif Knutsen for this 1982 Aftenposten article by Odd Eidem on the formation of Norway's anti-Israelism.

Why Denmark aided the American war on Hussein - an advisor to the governing Liberal Party explains.

French conspiracy nut's deck of cards over 52 most dangerous US officials receives top coverage in Norway. Tomorrow: The Elders of Zion Board Game - family fun with a political edge.

Richard Miniter lists the evidence of a Saddam-al-Qaeda connection, indicating contact and mutual respect if not cooperation. His data on Krekar is outdated and spurious, though, (was Ansar territory really loyal to Saddam?), which may reflect overall unreliability.

Not entirely wobbly: Norwegian government still wants to kick Krekar out.

The Swedes have shown good sense to reject the Euro, economic nonsense whose main purpose is to give more power to unaccountable top beurocrats.

There's a new suspect in the Lindh murder case. And in the New York Times, Göran Rosenberg writes that the murder was not made possible by a supposed national innocence, but by lack of professionalism at the Swedish security police.

Fredrik Norman writes about the underreported positive trends in Iraq.

Statoil CEO fired in corruption scandal.

Our media tends to be rather .. single-minded when it comes to interpreting American poll results. Here are the hard numbers on which issues people do and do not support G. W. Bush, and how it has changed over time. (Via Dean Esmay.)

Andres Gentry writes about how the Bookseller of Kabul's lawsuit illustrates the conflict between respect for other cultures and criticism of oppression.

New Danish immigration law targets radical imams.

Sweden's nej may be the beginning of Europe a la carte.

Catholics offended by proposed new divorce clause in Norway's marriage law, intended to protect Muslim women.

Norway to host Philippine peace talks, in addition to ongoing Sri Lankan talks. Let's hope we do better than in the Middle East.

Glenn Reynolds on the big media/small media discrepancy over Iraq.

Jan Haugland has the latest news of the Anna Lindh murder case - maybe they've got him, maybe not.

Michael Radu at FrontpageMag has a fairly good summary of the Krekar case and wonders, if this is how Norway treats a wanted terrorist, what can the US expect from less reliable allies like France and Germany? One clarification: Krekar is under investigation of various offences, but the terrorism charge has been dropped and he's not in detention.

Ansar al-Islam has presence in the US, authorities fear.

The populist right and left winners of Norway's local elections.

Norway's state oil company in Iranian corruption scandal.

"The Bookseller of Kabul" arrives in Norway to restore his honor.

Sweden rejects the Euro for now, though they'll likely have to join eventually.

Town liberated from Ansar al-Islam revels in new freedoms denied by Krekar's people - music, songs, picnics, board games, shorts, t-shirts, smoking. "It was obvious, even to a blind person, that these people were Al Qaeda."

Scandinavia - a weak link in the war on terror?

Kristin Krohn Devold dumps NATO candidacy, backs Dutch Foreign Minister as next chief of NATO.

"Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black."
Good night, Johnny.

Hint for newspaper group blogs: Don't ever let your resident conspiracy buff write about anything that doesn't involve Elvis and aliens.

A sad day for Sweden: Foreign Minister Anna Lindh died this morning from the stab wound she got yesterday. The perpetrator is still at large, and there are few clues. (The Euro referendum on Sunday will go ahead as planned.)

Here's an interesting and somewhat reassuring poll of how Iraqis view the US and their own future. "It's time to scratch 'Khomeini II' from the list of morbid fears." (Tnx Jonathan Turner.)

Mullah Krekar has been kicked out of Ansar al-Islam, one of their websites claims.

Sweden's Foreign Minister stabbed in shopping mall - related to Euro referendum on Sunday?

Something strange just happened: I previewed a comment, and found that the comment I replied to had simply disappeared from the page, apparently caused by me clicking 'preview'. (I've reposted it now.) Just want to let you all know that I almost never delete comments - if this has happened to you let me know, it wasn't me, it was the gremlins.

An Economist graph of agricultural subsidies by country in percent of total output - with Norway near the top. (Tnx John Tacker).

Does Sweden have the highest murder rates in Scandinavia? Uriasposten looks at the numbers, and digs up some new ones.

Johan Mjønes, a student of literature, explains in Dagbladet why Berlusconi's Italy fulfills the prophecies of both Brave New World and 1984 at the same time. Inept Orwell abuse or clever parody at Dagbladet's expense? I lean towards the latter.

Voters are like Winnie the Pooh, and we need experts and politicians to guide us, Terra Taco reveals.

Eye-witness account from Baghdad: Where's all the chaos we're hearing about? (Via Jan Haugland.)

Is Norwegian anti-Israelism just anti-semitism in disguise? Readers battle it out.

Peaktalk writes about the problem with unions.

Progress Party up, Labor down in new poll:
Progress Party
22.1% (+6.7)
Labor
19.8% (-5.8)
Conservatives
19.0% (-1.3) [*]
Socialist Left
17.2% (-1.1)
Christian People's Party
7.3% (-1.3) [*]
Centre Party
6.1% (+0.7)
Liberal Party
3.2% (-0.3) [*]
[*] Government coalition

Matt Welch: Dead Iraqi babies revisited. Read the original article on the effects of the UN sanctions here.

Norwegian Air Force sets up new special forces group.

Mullah Krekar volunteers going to the US to answer terrorism charges.