mdn's New Writeupshttp://everything2.com/?node=New%20Writeups%20Atom%20Feed&foruser=mdn2003-01-10T18:34:06ZCarl Bildt (person)http://m.everything2.com/user/mdn/writeups/Carl+Bildtmdnhttp://m.everything2.com/user/mdn2003-01-10T18:34:06Z2003-01-10T18:34:06Z<p>
If you mention Carl Bildt to a Swede he will respond in one of two ways. Either the Swede will tell you that Carl Bildt is the best thing that's happened to Swedish politics since <a href="/title/Gustav+Vasa">Gustav Vasa</a> and that Bildt is the one true leader of the Moderate Party<sup>1</sup>, or he will tell you that Mr. Bildt is one hundred percent pure evil and should be destroyed where he was forged, in the fires of <a href="/title/Mount+Doom">Mount Doom</a>.
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Carl Bildt was born on the 15th of July 1949 in Halmstad to Nils and Kerstin Bildt. His first political appointment was as the <a href="/title/chairman">chairman</a> of the Moderate Student Association (Fria moderata studentförbundet) between 1973 and '74. Between '73 and '76 he worked as a political secretary with the Moderate Party.
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Bildt was elected into the <a href="/title/Riksdag">Riksdag</a> in 1979. As his speciality is foreign and security policy, he has been a deputy member of the Foreign Affairs committee during most of his time in the Riksdag.<sup>2</sup> In 1981 he was elected into the Moderate Party's board, and in<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Riksdag (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/mdn/writeups/Riksdagmdnhttp://m.everything2.com/user/mdn2002-11-11T18:26:25Z2002-11-11T18:26:25Z<p>
Riksdag has been the name of many different Swedish <a href="/title/polity">polities</a> during the ages. This writeup is about the current Riksdag (the 20th and 21st centuries.) The word <i>Riksdag</i> itself is hard to translate. <a href="/title/Encyclop%25C3%25A6dia+Britannica">Encyclopædia Britannica</a>'s translation: "Day of the Realm" is the best one I've seen so far.
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The Riksdag is <a href="/title/Sweden">Sweden</a>'s legislative body and the foremost representative of the Swedish people. It has 349 seats. Elections are held on the third Sunday of September every four years (1994, 1998, 2002, etc.). The next <a href="/title/election">election</a> will be held in 2006.
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The Riksdag has looked like it does today since 1971, when the earlier <a href="/title/bicameral">bicameral</a> Riksdag was replaced by the current <a href="/title/unicameral">unicameral</a>. It was one step towards the replacement of <i>Regeringsformen</i>, one of Sweden's four <a href="/title/constitution">constitution</a>al laws, in 1974. Between 1971 and 1976, the Riksdag had 350 seats. This was changed to 349 after both <a href="/title/bloc">bloc</a>s had received 175 seats each in the 1973 election and several decisions had to be made by<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Nationalencyklopedin (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/mdn/writeups/Nationalencyklopedinmdnhttp://m.everything2.com/user/mdn2002-07-18T13:07:33Z2002-07-18T13:07:33Z<p>
Swedish for "The National Encyclopaedia".
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Nationalencyklopedin is the most comprehensive <a href="/title/encyclopaedia">encyclopaedia</a> in Swedish. It covers 172,000 subjects on 12,700 pages in 20 volumes. It was created between 1989 and 1996 by the <i>Bra Böcker</i> publishing house. More than 3,000 people have written text for it. Many of the writers are among the best <a href="/title/Swede">Swede</a>s in their particular field.
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In 1985, the <a href="/title/Riksdag">Riksdag</a> authorised the creation of a new <a href="/title/Swedish">Swedish</a> language encyclopaedia. A few months later, an agreement with <i>Bra Böckers Förlag</i> was formed. The agreement covered most issues regarding the contents and look of the new encyclopaedia. In 1986, the work of creating the new encyclopaedia was begun.
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In December 1989, the first of the 20 volumes was issued. At that time, about 54,000 customers had pre-ordered the first volume. From 1990 and onwards, an average of three volumes were issued every year until August 1996 when the last volume was issued. The articles in NE were<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Quantum Chromodynamics (idea)http://m.everything2.com/user/mdn/writeups/Quantum+Chromodynamicsmdnhttp://m.everything2.com/user/mdn2002-05-03T20:41:15Z2002-05-03T20:41:15Z<p>
Physicists use the theory of quantum chromodynamics to explain the characteristics of one of the four basic forces in the universe, the <a href="/title/strong+nuclear+force">strong nuclear force</a>. In QCD, <a href="/title/quark">quark</a>s and <a href="/title/gluon">gluon</a>s are said to have a certain colour. The colours are; red, green, and blue, and their anti-colours; anti-red, anti-green, and anti-blue.<sup>1</sup> (Anti-colours are just a way to visualise the colours of anti-particles.)
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Subatomic particles do, of course, not have any actual colour. In fact, there is no way to ever 'see' them in the normal sense of the word, as the <a href="/title/electromagnetic+spectrum">wavelengths used by light</a> are much, much larger than the size of any subatomic particle. The colours are just used to visualise certain properties of these particles.
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Because of a characteristic known as <a href="/title/confinement">confinement</a>, particles with colour can only exist in combinations that result in the colour white. There are two ways that quarks can bond to form the colour white. (Particles formed when quarks bond are<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Toppen (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/mdn/writeups/Toppenmdnhttp://m.everything2.com/user/mdn2002-04-17T20:38:23Z2002-04-17T20:38:23Z<p>
Toppen is one of four members in <a href="/title/Svenska+Spel">Svenska Spel</a>'s Oddset family, which it joined in 1986. The object of the game is <em>usually</em> to guess the winner in a sports event. The event can be either long term, such as guessing the winning team in a league, or short term, such as guessing the winner of a <a href="/title/Formula+1">Formula One</a> race. The range of events one can bet on is huge, just about every large sports competition is featured. But one can bet on other things than sports on Toppen. For example, it is possible to bet on the <a href="/title/Eurovision+Song+Contest">Eurovision Song Contest</a>.
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As each alternative when betting on Toppen corresponds to a number, the numbers can be tied to just about anything. For example, in football matches it is usually possible to bet on which player will make the first/last goal of the match. Some of the more complicated methods of play on Toppen include guessing the winners in a series of games (where each possible combination of winners corresponds to a number) or if the number of goals made in a<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Matchen (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/mdn/writeups/Matchenmdnhttp://m.everything2.com/user/mdn2002-04-13T21:09:26Z2002-04-13T21:09:26Z<p>
Matchen is yet another game in <a href="/title/Svenska+Spel">Svenska Spel</a>'s Oddset family, which it joined in 1986. The object of the game is simply to guess the end result in a sports match of some kind. The bet is chosen by the player, but must be between 10 and 500 SEK. Usually, there is at least one match each <a href="/title/day">day</a> that is playable, as the system supports twelve simultaneous instances of Matchen. Matchen can be played on many types of sports. Some of the most common are; football (European), ice-hockey, <a href="/title/bandy">bandy</a>, indoor bandy and <a href="/title/handball">handball</a>.
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As the odds are based on the player's bets, they are constantly changing and the exact odds are available first after the closing of the game, usually about five minutes before the start of the match. The amount won is simply the bet multiplied by the final odds for the winning <a href="/title/combination">combination</a>. The highest odds ever were achieved in 1988. The players who had guessed the ending result in the match between <a href="/title/Luton">Luton</a> and <a href="/title/Oxford">Oxford</a> correctly got 42,545.30 times their bets back as wins. (<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…